Deep groundwater resources - quantity, quality, and protection

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Deep groundwater aquifers may be a valuable resource, especially during severe droughts and in arid regions, in decades and centuries to come. It is now increasingly common to find groundwater wells drilled to several-kilometer depths in California, Texas, the Middle East, and other arid regions. Treatment options are improving and brackish water (and seawater) is now routinely desalinated for human consumption. Although there are regional and global efforts to characterize saline and brackish groundwater, these efforts focus on relatively shallow depths. In addition, these studies generally do not comprehensively consider drinking water quality requirements, toxic element concentrations for irrigation, and industrial water quality needs. Furthermore, we need evidence that deep groundwater can be used to justify its protection from anthropogenic activities. Through deep groundwater characterization and analysis, this research program will benefit policy-makers, governments, and agricultural and industrial water users to manage and protect deep groundwater resources. Data analysis with modeling, statistics, and visualization techniques and groundwater sample collection and analysis will be used to answer important questions such as: what is the volume of deep fresh and usable groundwater? How much of this water is available? How much treatment is needed? What are the potential impacts of and to its use? How/where/when should we collect more data? The results can spur new innovations in deep groundwater monitoring and protection and in water treatment technologies. In light of future availability of new information and methods, the idea is to build an adaptable analysis framework with open-source modeling and analysis tools that can provide timely information for policy-making. Over the five-year duration of the program, three graduate (one Ph.D. and two Master) and three undergraduate students will be trained in the fundamentals of subsurface flow and transport, analytical and numerical modeling, geospatial and statistical data analysis, and water sample collection and quality analysis. The training will be achieved through three studies: (1) Deep groundwater characterization and model development a case study on the southwestern U.S.; (2) Deep groundwater database development and analysis at global and regional scales; and (3) Deep groundwater for human consumption, irrigation, and industrial uses. The students will acquire skills applicable in a wide range of science and engineering fields, including groundwater, waste disposal, and oil and gas, and contribute to Canada's workforce in government, academia, and industry. The new research program will also strengthen Canada's groundwater, agriculture, and subsurface-based energy research and its contributions to the global science and development community, and protect future human and ecosystem health.