SWB Modeling of Groundwater Recharge on Catalina Island, California, during a Period of Severe Drought
Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA
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Water 2019, 11(1), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010058
Received: 9 November 2018 / Revised: 5 December 2018 / Accepted: 21 December 2018 / Published: 31 December 2018
(This article belongs to the Section Hydrology and Hydrogeology)
This study applied a soil water balance (SWB) model to simulate groundwater recharge on Catalina Island, California, for the years 2008–2014, a period that coincided with a severe drought. Island-wide average recharge ranged from 0.05 mm/year in 2013 to 82.3 mm/year in 2008, with a 7-year mean of 23.0 mm/year. High recharge is primarily associated with east-facing mountain fronts and the land cover types “developed, open space” and “herbaceous”. This spatial trend is also reflected in recharge estimates for groundwater well locations produced by the Cl mass balance method. Only in 2008 did all areas of the island experience recharge, while the recharge was very low during the drought years 2009 and 2012–2014. Sensitivity analyses indicate an unresolved discrepancy in land cover classification (i.e., herbaceous grass dominated vs. chaparral and coastal sage dominated) to be a significant factor. In a scenario where herbaceous grass dominates, as field studies from the early 1980s imply, recharge estimates nearly double. Nevertheless, the overall low recharge rates presented herein and the fact that drought conditions in Southern California have worsened since 2014 suggest that large parts of the island may not have received any recharge in nearly a decade.
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Keywords:
groundwater; recharge; water balance modeling; Cl mass balance; oceanic island; Southern California
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MDPI and ACS Style
Harlow, J.; Hagedorn, B. SWB Modeling of Groundwater Recharge on Catalina Island, California, during a Period of Severe Drought. Water 2019, 11, 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010058
AMA Style
Harlow J, Hagedorn B. SWB Modeling of Groundwater Recharge on Catalina Island, California, during a Period of Severe Drought. Water. 2019; 11(1):58. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010058
Chicago/Turabian StyleHarlow, Jeanette; Hagedorn, Benjamin. 2019. "SWB Modeling of Groundwater Recharge on Catalina Island, California, during a Period of Severe Drought" Water 11, no. 1: 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010058
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