Quantifying groundwater discharge to surface reservoirs

在过去的50年里，全球地下水采掘率至少增加了两倍。气候变化、森林砍伐或城市化给地下水资源增加了额外的压力。这些压力是当前非常重要的，因为美国每个州都有地下水位下降的记录，可能危及河流基流和依赖地下水的生态系统。gw-sw连接建立或破坏的条件、触发因素和阈值仍然知之甚少。在未来的几年里，我的长期目标将是开发创新的方法来量化含水层向地表水库的流量，并量化排放对自然和人为变化的脆弱性。我的短期目标是：1)建立一个以科学为基础的地下水排放到地表水库的类型学；2)定量确定地下水流量的中尺度；3)定义反映现状的指标，用以识别排放变化。每个目标将通过开展两项HQP研究来实现。博士1将专注于使用高精度地形激光雷达数据来限制地下水排放区域的位置。MSc1的目的是更好地了解地质和水文条件如何影响排放量的短期变化。博士2将致力于了解中尺度驱动力和条件控制地下水排放的水文地质背景下典型的加拿大南部。MSc2将侧重于负责中尺度补给的过程，包括冻结和融化。博士3将解开了解整个圣劳伦斯低地地下水排放的复杂问题，并制定地下水排放指标。MSc3将使用目标流域模型的一个子集来确定气候变化、土地利用变化和缓解措施对地下水排放的影响。最先进的现场工作和建模方法的结合适用于各种条件是独特的和原始的。这项研究将填补关于驱动地下水排放的过程和规模的知识空白，提供估计当前条件和确定未来压力的新方法。它有望产生基准，高引用的出版物。这将通过HQP（3名博士，3名硕士，2名理学士）的培训成为可能，他们将参加一个由水文地质领域顶尖研究人员组成的独特的多学科团队。他们将准备面对水文地质和环境研究中常见的野外和建模工作的复杂性。该研究项目有可能改变将地下水纳入水资源管理政策的方式，并有助于提高依赖地下水的生态系统和地下水资源的恢复能力。

Over the past 50 years, the global groundwater extraction rate has at least tripled. Climate change, deforestation or urbanization add additionnal pressures on groundwater resources. These stresses are of very current importance, as groundwater level declines have now been recorded in every state of the USA, possibly jeopardizing river baseflows and groundwater dependent ecosystems. The conditions, triggers and thresholds under which gw-sw connectivity is established or compromised are still poorly understood. In the coming years, my long-term objective will be to develop innovative approaches to quantifying aquifer discharge to surface reservoirs and to quantifying the vulnerabilty of discharge to natural and human-induced changes. My short-term objectives are: 1) to develop a science-based typology of groundwater discharge to surface reservoirs; 2) to quantify the meso-scale at which groundwater discharge is usually determined; and 3) to define indicators reflecting current conditions that can be used to identify discharge changes. Each objective will be met by undertaking two HQP studies. PhD1 will focus on constraining the location of groundwater discharge areas using high-precision topographic LiDAR data. MSc1 will aim at better understanding how short-term changes in discharge are influenced by geological and hydrological conditions. PhD2 will aim at understanding the meso-scale driving forces and conditions governing groundwater discharge in hydrogeological contexts typical of southern Canada. MSc2 will focus on the processes responsable for meso-scale recharge, including freezing and thawing. PhD3 will disentangle the complex problem of understanding groundwater discharge for the entire St. Lawrence Lowlands and develop indicators of groundwater discharge. MSc3 will use a subset of the models of targeted watersheds to determine the impacts of climate change, land use change and mitigation measures on groundwater discharge. The combination of state-of-the-art field work and modelling approaches applied for a variety of conditions is unique and original. This research will fill knowledge gaps on the processes and scales driving groundwater discharge, provide new ways of estimating current conditions and identify future pressures. It is expected to produce benchmark, highly cited publications. This will be made possible by the training of HQP (3 PhD, 3 MSc, 2 BSc) who will participate in a unique multi-disciplinary team of top researchers in the field of hydrogeology. They will be prepared to face the complexity of field and modelling work common to hydrogeology and environmental studies. This research program has the potential to change the way groundwater is included in water management policies and to contribute to the resilience of groundwater dependent ecosystems and groundwater resources.