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Water
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Human Impact on Water Resources
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Human Impact on Water Resources

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 15433

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. David Widory

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Montréal, QC H2L 2C4, Canada
Interests: isotope geochemistry; environment; pollution; air; soil; water
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Andrew Chiasson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA
Interests: geothermal; ground source heat pump systems; solar; thermal systems modeling; low-energy buildings
Prof. Dr. Samuel Appelbaum

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boker Campus, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Interests: aquaculture in arid lands; geothermal; saline water; aquatic organisms; fish/shrimp culture, nutrition, reproduction and behaviour

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to gather novel and innovative works of general interest for the broad audience of the journal related to the environmental implications of ever-growing human activities, with a particular emphasis on the changes these are inducing on water resources. Global demand for water is projected to outstrip supply by 40% in 2030 and 55% in 2050 as a result of climate change, rising population, economic growth, rapid urbanization, and increased water–energy–food nexus pressures. Humans are thus now facing the critical challenge of preserving our water resources from biological and chemical contamination induced by its own point and diffuse sources. Addressing this challenge will require an overview holistic system approach by addressing new issues and emerging contaminants, as well as embedded multiple exposures to ultimately be able to achieve a comprehsensive environmental and human health risk assessment.

Consequently, the contributions to this Special Issue will encompass a broad spectrum of topics in human impact on water resources, including but not limited to:

  • Emerging topics dealing with water resource vulnerability and human impact, including emerging and chemical contaminants;
  • Advances in analytical techniques to monitor and identify sources and processes controlling the budget of human contaminants in water resources;
  • Advances in hydrological process and hydrodynamic models for investigating water vulnerability to human impact;
  • Analysis of urban growth consequences for water resources and water management;
  • Remote sensing applications for water vulnerability assesment;
  • Linkage between water vulnerability, scarcity, security, and sustainability.

In this Special Issue, we aim to fill gaps on the application of hydrochemistry (including measurements of radioactive and stable isotopes ratios, nutrients, trace elements, and organic components) on environmental research by asking for manuscripts which constitute original contributions on studies developing application in hydrogeology, nutrient balances, pollution, environmental changes, as well as modeling or empirical studies aimed at improving our mechanistic understanding of short- and long-term chemical variations in global hydrological systems. Submission of inter- and multidisciplinary original research and review papers is particularly encouraged.

Prof. David Widory
Dr. Andrew Chiasson
Prof. Dr. Samuel Appelbaum
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • water resources
  • human impact
  • contaminants
  • vulnerability
  • hydrogeology
  • environmental health

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

30 pages, 5050 KiB  
Article
Determining the Regional Geochemical Background for Dissolved Trace Metals and Metalloids in Stream Waters: Protocol, Results and Limitations—The Upper Loire River Basin (France)
by Nathalie Gassama, Florence Curie, Pierre Vanhooydonck, Xavier Bourrain and David Widory
Water 2021, 13(13), 1845; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13131845 - 01 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2351
Abstract
To avoid the improper disqualification of a watershed for which the water–rock interaction (WRI) may produce trace element concentrations exceeding established guidelines, it is of the utmost importance to properly establish natural geochemical backgrounds. Using the example of the crystalline Upper Loire River [...] Read more.
To avoid the improper disqualification of a watershed for which the water–rock interaction (WRI) may produce trace element concentrations exceeding established guidelines, it is of the utmost importance to properly establish natural geochemical backgrounds. Using the example of the crystalline Upper Loire River Basin, we are proposing a methodology based on the selection and chemical characterization of water and sediment samples from 10 monolithologic watersheds supposedly lowly impacted by anthropogenic inputs. We collected water samples from each watershed’s spring down to its outlet and measured dissolved major, minor and selected trace elements (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, La, Ni, Pb, U, V and Zn) at low- and high-water stages. Results show that the chemical signature of the stream waters is controlled by mineral weatherability rather than by the available rock stock. As a result, the variability in dissolved metal concentrations between the principal lithologies is similar to that observed within each of them. While some elements mostly result from WRI, others clearly identify high inputs from topsoil leaching. Comparison with published data evidences the need to subdivide studied watersheds into distinct sectors, according to the distance from the spring, in order to define reliable natural backgrounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Impact on Water Resources)
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15 pages, 4378 KiB  
Article
Aquifer Depletion in the Arlit Mining Area (Tim Mersoï Basin, North Niger)
by Farida Boubé Dobi, Eugène Koffi Kouakou, Yahaya Nazoumou, Boubacar Abdou Boko, Sophie Ngomune Edimo, Fadji Zaouna Maina and Moussa Konaté
Water 2021, 13(12), 1685; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121685 - 18 Jun 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2643
Abstract
Located in northwestern Niger, the Tim Mersoï Basin (TMB) is an important mining region in the scale of West Africa. Groundwater is considered the main source of fresh water in the basin, especially for mining activities. It, therefore, appears essential to monitor their [...] Read more.
Located in northwestern Niger, the Tim Mersoï Basin (TMB) is an important mining region in the scale of West Africa. Groundwater is considered the main source of fresh water in the basin, especially for mining activities. It, therefore, appears essential to monitor their responses to these activities. However, no study has been carried out in the Tim Mersoï Basin. This study aims to evaluate the groundwater storage changes (GWSC) of the TMB and to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of the Tarat aquifer under the effect of mining activities in the Arlit region. For this purpose, Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE), Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), and in-situ data were used. The results show a variation of the GWS from 2002 to 2019 of about −0.1310 cm/year on the scale of the basin and −0.0109 cm/year in the Arlit mining area. The GWSC at the basin scale and the one at the Arlit region scale were shown to be linked with an RMSE between the two datasets of 0.79. This shows the potential of GRACE for contextualizing studies in small areas. The study also highlighted that the groundwater flow direction was highly modified; the drawdown of the Tarat water table was more than 50 m in the areas heavily impacted by mining activities, with an increasing intensity from the northwest to the southeast of Arlit. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Impact on Water Resources)
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18 pages, 4050 KiB  
Article
Influence of Gully Land Consolidation on Phreatic Water Transformation in the Loess Hilly and Gully Region
by Zihao Guo, Jianen Gao, Pengcheng Sun, Shaohui Dou, Juan Li, Xianyong Lou, Hong Wang, Rafiq Ahmad and Zhe Gao
Water 2021, 13(4), 538; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040538 - 19 Feb 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2112
Abstract
Gully Land Consolidation (GLC) is a proven method to create farmlands and increase crop yields in the Loess Hilly and Gully Region, China. However, GLC influences phreatic water transformation and might cause the farmlands water disasters, such as salinization and swamping. For exploring [...] Read more.
Gully Land Consolidation (GLC) is a proven method to create farmlands and increase crop yields in the Loess Hilly and Gully Region, China. However, GLC influences phreatic water transformation and might cause the farmlands water disasters, such as salinization and swamping. For exploring the influence of GLC on phreatic water transformation and mitigating disasters, a series of indoor experiments were conducted in the artificial rainfall hall. Then, we simulated the phreatic water transformation patterns under more conditions with HYDRUS-3D. Finally, an engineering demonstration in the field was performed to validate our research. The indoor experiments indicated that GLC could increase phreatic water outflow rate 4.39 times and phreatic water coefficient (PWC) 2.86 times with a considerable delay. After calibration and validation with experimental data, the HYDRUS-3D was used to simulate phreatic water transformation under more soil thickness and rainfall intensities. Accordingly, we summarized the relationship among PWC, rainfall intensities, and soil thickness, and therefore suggested a blind ditch system to alleviate farmlands disasters. Field application showed that a blind ditch system could avoid disasters with 3.2 times the phreatic water transformation rate compared to loess. Our research provides implications for sustainable land uses and management in the region with thick soil covers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Impact on Water Resources)
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21 pages, 7816 KiB  
Article
Impact of Standing Column Well Operation on Carbonate Scaling
by Léo Cerclet, Benoît Courcelles and Philippe Pasquier
Water 2020, 12(8), 2222; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12082222 - 07 Aug 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2863
Abstract
Standing column well constitutes a recent promising solution to provide heating or cooling and to reduce greenhouse gases emissions in urban areas. Nevertheless, scaling issues can emerge in presence of carbonates and impact their efficiency. Even though a thermo-hydro-geochemical model demonstrated the impact [...] Read more.
Standing column well constitutes a recent promising solution to provide heating or cooling and to reduce greenhouse gases emissions in urban areas. Nevertheless, scaling issues can emerge in presence of carbonates and impact their efficiency. Even though a thermo-hydro-geochemical model demonstrated the impact of the water temperature on carbonate concentration, this conclusion has not been yet demonstrated by field investigations. To do so, an experimental ground source heat pump system connected to a standing column well was operated under various conditions to collect 50 groundwater samples over a period of 267 days. These field samples were used for mineral analysis and laboratory batch experiments. The results were analyzed with multivariate regression and geochemical simulations and confirmed a clear relationship between the calcium concentrations measured in the well, the temperature and the calcite equilibrium constant. It was also found that operating a ground source heat pump system in conjunction with a small groundwater treatment system allows reduction of calcium concentration in the well, while shutting down the system leads to a quite rapid increase at a level consistent with the regional calcium concentration. Although no major clogging or biofouling problem was observed after two years of operation, mineral scales made of carbonates precipitated on a flowmeter and hindered its operation. The paper provides insight on the impact of standing column well on groundwater quality and suggests some mitigation measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Impact on Water Resources)
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12 pages, 1938 KiB  
Article
Effects of a Groundwater Heat Pump on Thermophilic Bacteria Activity
by Heejung Kim and Jin-Yong Lee
Water 2019, 11(10), 2084; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11102084 - 06 Oct 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3285
Abstract
Groundwater samples were collected from the tubular wells of a groundwater heat pump (GWHP), and the psychrophilic, mesophilic, and thermophilic bacteria inhabiting the collected groundwater were cultured and isolated. Using the isolated bacteria, we analyzed temperature-dependent changes in autochthonous bacteria based on the [...] Read more.
Groundwater samples were collected from the tubular wells of a groundwater heat pump (GWHP), and the psychrophilic, mesophilic, and thermophilic bacteria inhabiting the collected groundwater were cultured and isolated. Using the isolated bacteria, we analyzed temperature-dependent changes in autochthonous bacteria based on the operation of the GWHP. Microbial culture identified eight species of bacteria: five species of thermophilic bacteria (Anoxybacillus tepidamans, Bacillus oceanisediminis, Deinococcus geothermalis, Effusibacillus pohliae, and Vulcaniibacterium thermophilum), one species of mesophilic bacteria (Lysobacter mobilis), and two species of psychrophilic bacteria (Paenibacillus elgii and Paenibacillus lautus). The results indicated A. tepidamans as the most dominant thermophilic bacterium in the study area. Notably, the Anoxybacillus genus was previous reported as a microorganism capable of creating deposits that clog above-ground wells and filters at geothermal power plants. Additionally, we found that on-site operation of the GWHP had a greater influence on the activity of thermophilic bacteria than on psychrophilic bacteria among autochthonous bacteria. These findings suggested that study of cultures of thermophilic bacteria might contribute to understanding the bio-clogging phenomena mediated by A. tepidamans in regard to GWHP-related thermal efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Impact on Water Resources)
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