Geology topics

William W.-G. Yeh

Publications and source records attributed to William W.-G. Yeh.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2010

Optimal pump and recharge management model for nitrate removal in the Warren groundwater basin, California

The town of Yucca Valley located in the southwest part of the Mojave Desert in southern California relies on groundwater pumping from the Warren groundwater basin as its sole source of water supply. This significant dependency has resulted in a large imbalance between groundwater pumpage and natural recharge, causing groundwater levels in the basin to decline more than 90 m from the late 1940s to 1994. Consequently, an artificial recharge program proposed by the Hi-Desert Water District, which provides water service to the town of Yucca Valley, was implemented for the purpose of recovering the groundwater levels; however, the rise in groundwater levels has caused nitrate ( NO 3 ) "> ( NO 3 ) (NO3) concentration to increase simultaneously. The purpose of this study is to develop an optimal pump and recharge strategy for a planned conjunctive-use project to remove the high-nitrate concentration while maintaining groundwater levels at desired elevations at specified locations as well as meeting water demand. An optimization/management model is formulated with a linear objective function and nonlinear constraints. The response matrix approach is used to link the optimization model with the simulation model. Because of nonlinearity, the response matrix is updated and iteration is required for convergence. A systematic scheme is also developed for finding a feasible initial policy. Three different scenarios are considered in the management model. The results obtained from each scenario are analyzed and discussed.

California↗

USGS2009

Development of an objective‐oriented groundwater model for conjunctive‐use planning of surface water and groundwater

In this paper we construct an objective‐oriented model for conjunctive‐use planning of surface water and groundwater for the Warren groundwater basin in southern California. The goal of conjunctive‐use planning is to decrease high‐nitrate concentration while maintaining groundwater levels at desired elevations and meeting water demand. We formulate a management problem that minimizes the total cost over the proper choices of the time‐varying pumping and recharge rates at prespecified wells and surface ponds. To make the solution of the management problem reliable, we must have an accurate simulation model to predict groundwater level and nitrate concentration distributions under different management alternatives. The objective‐oriented model construction approach seeks a representative parameter that has the simplest structure and requires the minimum data for identification but can produce reliable results for a given model application. With the data from the Warren groundwater basin, we show how to incorporate management objectives into the construction of an objective‐oriented model, identify the parameter structure and its corresponding parameter values, solve the generalized inverse problem effectively by finding the worst‐case parameter (WCP), evaluate the sufficiency of existing data, and find a robust experiment design when the existing data are insufficient. Results of this case study show that the presented methodology is useful in practice because (1) data sufficiency can be judged before conducting actual field experiments and (2) the identified WCP drastically reduces the computation time for constructing an objective‐oriented model.

California↗

USGS2006

Impacts of the 2004 tsunami on groundwater resources in Sri Lanka

The 26 December 2004 tsunami caused widespread destruction and contamination of coastal aquifers across southern Asia. Seawater filled domestic open dug wells and also entered the aquifers via direct infiltration during the first flooding waves and later as ponded seawater infiltrated through the permeable sands that are typical of coastal aquifers. In Sri Lanka alone, it is estimated that over 40,000 drinking water wells were either destroyed or contaminated. From February through September 2005, a team of United States, Sri Lankan, and Danish water resource scientists and engineers surveyed the coastal groundwater resources of Sri Lanka to develop an understanding of the impacts of the tsunami and to provide recommendations for the future of coastal water resources in south Asia. In the tsunami‐affected areas, seawater was found to have infiltrated and mixed with fresh groundwater lenses as indicated by the elevated groundwater salinity levels. Seawater infiltrated through the shallow vadose zone as well as entered aquifers directly through flooded open wells. Our preliminary transport analysis demonstrates that the intruded seawater has vertically mixed in the aquifers because of both forced and free convection. Widespread pumping of wells to remove seawater was effective in some areas, but overpumping has led to upconing of the saltwater interface and rising salinity. We estimate that groundwater recharge from several monsoon seasons will reduce salinity of many sandy Sri Lankan coastal aquifers. However, the continued sustainability of these small and fragile aquifers for potable water will be difficult because of the rapid growth of human activities that results in more intensive groundwater pumping and increased pollution. Long‐term sustainability of coastal aquifers is also impacted by the decrease in sand replenishment of the beaches due to sand mining and erosion.

Water Resources Research↗