A Hydro-Economic Approach for Quantifying Well Performance Thresholds and Recoverable Groundwater Yields in Texas
Groundwater overdraft may increase the depth of the potentiometric surface, or depth-to-water, over time; reducing potentiometric head available to support well operation and increasing the cost of pumping. These hydro-economic impacts create well failure thresholds. Understanding these impacts and...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Texas Water Journal
2024-02-01
|
| Series: | Texas Water Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://twj-ojs-tdl.tdl.org/twj/article/view/7160 |
| _version_ | 1797293334490775552 |
|---|---|
| author | Justin C. Thompson Michael Young |
| author_facet | Justin C. Thompson Michael Young |
| author_sort | Justin C. Thompson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Groundwater overdraft may increase the depth of the potentiometric surface, or depth-to-water, over time; reducing potentiometric head available to support well operation and increasing the cost of pumping. These hydro-economic impacts create well failure thresholds. Understanding these impacts and thresholds is a critical issue for groundwater management but tools to assess them are not widely available or established. Therefore, an analytical model developed in this study quantifies changes in well performance with depth-to-water, calculates well failure thresholds, and estimates feasible storage yields for variable uses, wells, and aquifers. The model is developed and tested using both a single well and a regional analysis of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Texas, U.S.A., where a contemporary groundwater dataset is available and management is depth-to-water-based. Results reveal how storage conditions drive well performance and suggest that performance in shallow and unconfined settings may be more limited by operational thresholds than affordability thresholds, while performance in deep and confined settings may be inversely limited. At the tested parameters for a single well, failure to account for drawdown would overestimate operationally feasible yields by 98% – 108% and economically feasible yields by 24%. The model could directly support manager, stakeholder, and policymaker consideration of desired future conditions.
|
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T20:11:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e6d799410bb743c7bfc34ebce0207279 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2160-5319 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T20:11:21Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Texas Water Journal |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Texas Water Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-e6d799410bb743c7bfc34ebce02072792024-02-27T23:32:43ZengTexas Water JournalTexas Water Journal2160-53192024-02-0115110.21423/twj.v15i1.7160A Hydro-Economic Approach for Quantifying Well Performance Thresholds and Recoverable Groundwater Yields in TexasJustin C. Thompson0Michael Young1Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin1Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin Groundwater overdraft may increase the depth of the potentiometric surface, or depth-to-water, over time; reducing potentiometric head available to support well operation and increasing the cost of pumping. These hydro-economic impacts create well failure thresholds. Understanding these impacts and thresholds is a critical issue for groundwater management but tools to assess them are not widely available or established. Therefore, an analytical model developed in this study quantifies changes in well performance with depth-to-water, calculates well failure thresholds, and estimates feasible storage yields for variable uses, wells, and aquifers. The model is developed and tested using both a single well and a regional analysis of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Texas, U.S.A., where a contemporary groundwater dataset is available and management is depth-to-water-based. Results reveal how storage conditions drive well performance and suggest that performance in shallow and unconfined settings may be more limited by operational thresholds than affordability thresholds, while performance in deep and confined settings may be inversely limited. At the tested parameters for a single well, failure to account for drawdown would overestimate operationally feasible yields by 98% – 108% and economically feasible yields by 24%. The model could directly support manager, stakeholder, and policymaker consideration of desired future conditions. https://twj-ojs-tdl.tdl.org/twj/article/view/7160well performancewell optimizationpumping costsdepth-to-waterrecoverability |
| spellingShingle | Justin C. Thompson Michael Young A Hydro-Economic Approach for Quantifying Well Performance Thresholds and Recoverable Groundwater Yields in Texas Texas Water Journal well performance well optimization pumping costs depth-to-water recoverability |
| title | A Hydro-Economic Approach for Quantifying Well Performance Thresholds and Recoverable Groundwater Yields in Texas |
| title_full | A Hydro-Economic Approach for Quantifying Well Performance Thresholds and Recoverable Groundwater Yields in Texas |
| title_fullStr | A Hydro-Economic Approach for Quantifying Well Performance Thresholds and Recoverable Groundwater Yields in Texas |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Hydro-Economic Approach for Quantifying Well Performance Thresholds and Recoverable Groundwater Yields in Texas |
| title_short | A Hydro-Economic Approach for Quantifying Well Performance Thresholds and Recoverable Groundwater Yields in Texas |
| title_sort | hydro economic approach for quantifying well performance thresholds and recoverable groundwater yields in texas |
| topic | well performance well optimization pumping costs depth-to-water recoverability |
| url | https://twj-ojs-tdl.tdl.org/twj/article/view/7160 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT justincthompson ahydroeconomicapproachforquantifyingwellperformancethresholdsandrecoverablegroundwateryieldsintexas AT michaelyoung ahydroeconomicapproachforquantifyingwellperformancethresholdsandrecoverablegroundwateryieldsintexas AT justincthompson hydroeconomicapproachforquantifyingwellperformancethresholdsandrecoverablegroundwateryieldsintexas AT michaelyoung hydroeconomicapproachforquantifyingwellperformancethresholdsandrecoverablegroundwateryieldsintexas |