Study on the Control of Saltwater Intrusion Using Subsurface Dams

Abstract

Subsurface dams are widely used to prevent saltwater intrusion, with good results. This blockage often leads to an accumulation of pollutants and salt on the inland and seaside of the dam, respectively. While the latter is intended, the former effect is not desired and poses a huge problem in groundwater management. In order to quantitatively address this issue and clarify the impact of subsurface dam height, location, and the head difference for the saltwater and freshwater boundary on saltwater wedges and fresh groundwater discharge, a flow tank and numerical model were constructed. The results indicate that there was an optimal effective dam height and location (also the minimum effective dam location) for controlling saltwater intrusion, which corresponded to the maximum groundwater and freshwater discharge. When the various conditions of the numerical model were set according to the flow tank and the dam was 15 cm away from the saltwater boundary, the minimum effective dam height was equal to the aquifer thickness multiplied by 0.36. The dam height reached a height that was slightly higher than the minimum effective height, namely, the ratio of dam height to aquifer thickness was 0.38, which revealed that the freshwater discharge reached its maximum at 22.71 cm3/min, the saline water wedge area was the smallest at 378 cm2, and the prevention effect of saltwater intrusion was the best. Building a dam too high, that was, the ratio of dam height to aquifer thickness exceeded 0.38, resulted in an increased saltwater wedge area and exacerbated aquifer pollution. When the dam was located at the minimum effective distance for preventing saltwater intrusion under a certain dam height and head difference between saltwater and freshwater boundary, that was, the ratio of the distance of the dam to the saltwater boundary to the total length of the aquifer was 0.063, the distance of the dam to the saltwater boundary was the minimum effective distance. Compared to other effective distances, when the dam was at the minimum effective distance, the freshwater discharge reached its maximum at 22.71 cm3/min, and the saltwater wedge area was the smallest at 378 cm2. These conclusions provide a theoretical reference for the impact of subsurface dam construction on the saltwater wedge. This study examines the impact of tides and waves on the water head of the saltwater boundary, and it is also necessary to verify these conclusions through actual field experiments. We will investigate this in future work.