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Hard rocks or crystalline rocks (i.e., plutonic and metamorphic rocks) constitute the basement of all continents, and are particularly exposed at the surface in the large shields of Africa, India, North and South America, Australia and Europe. They were, and are still in some cases, exposed to deep weathering processes. The storativity and hydraulic conductivity of hard rocks, and thus their groundwater resources, are controlled by these weathering processes, which created weathering profiles. Hard-rock aquifers then develop mainly within the first 100 m below ground surface, within these weathering profiles. Where partially or noneroded, these weathering profiles comprise: (1) a capacitive but generally low-permeability unconsolidated layer (the saprolite), located immediately above (2) the permeable stratiform fractured layer (SFL). The development of the SFL’s fracture network is the consequence of the stress induced by the swelling of some minerals, notably biotite. To a much lesser extent, further weathering, and thus hydraulic conductivity, also develops deeper below the SFL, at the periphery of or within preexisting geological discontinuities (joints, dykes, veins, lithological contacts, etc.). The demonstration and recognition of this conceptual model have enabled understanding of the functioning of such aquifers. Moreover, this conceptual model has facilitated a comprehensive corpus of applied methodologies in hydrogeology and geology, which are described in this review paper such as water-well siting, mapping hydrogeological potentialities from local to country scale, quantitative management, hydrodynamical modeling, protection of hard-rock groundwater resources (even in thermal and mineral aquifers), computing the drainage discharge of tunnels, quarrying, etc.

Underground dams are a technology for artificially increasing existing groundwater resources. They modify the natural groundwater flow in aquifers and, typically, cause hydraulic heads to rise upstream and fall downstream of the dam. However, such modifications must be defined to forecast their environmental, economic and/or social impacts. A steady-state semianalytical solution is proposed for evaluating the two-dimensional distribution of hydraulic head caused by an underground dam fully penetrating a homogeneous and inclined aquifer. The dam is impermeable, of rectangular shape, and its length concerns a limited part of the aquifer width. The developed solution is based on the method of fundamental solutions. Analysis of the semianalytical solution included sensitivity tests and a satisfactory comparison with numerical modelling. Dimensionless graphs relating the dam geometry to maximum hydraulic-head variations upstream and downstream of the dam are given. The proposed solution was applied at two field sites, giving satisfactory results. A semianalytical solution is also developed for an artificial recharge area and/or a pumping well near the underground dam. Interestingly, in the case of highly permeable aquifers, the increase in hydraulic head created by the dam may be much higher than that created by managed aquifer recharge (MAR), despite high injected flux. These semianalytical solutions will be useful applications for assessing the long-term spatial distribution of hydraulic head induced by underground dams, or for testing the combination of dams with pumping wells or MAR technology. They are intended to guide the design of such structures, especially to quickly test various configurations.

The strong impact of population increase and the effects of climate change on drinking-water resources mean that it is essential to optimize the management of groundwater. This study aims at determining the best way of sustainably exploiting a well field south of Bordeaux (France). Currently, the field’s 18 wells can produce about 10 million (M) m3/year. Starting from a complete review of field data, this study presents an optimization method with surrogate models based on a preexisting spatially distributed groundwater model. This uses ‘influence coefficient’ methods for designing an efficient strategy to exploit groundwater, while preserving it from aquifer dewatering. This optimization approach investigates a much larger number of combinations than the classic trial-and-error approach. Though it is usually considered that preserving groundwater quality necessarily implies restricted exploitation, this work shows that other exploitation strategies can reach this objective with a significant gain in the total extracted volume without creating new wells. Two alternative configurations, incorporating the creation of new wells, were tested for maximizing the capacity of the well field and optimizing the effective capacity of the existing pipe network. Substantial gains are expected from those configurations, reaching an additional 2.2–5.5 M m3/year.

The behaviour of transient groundwater mounds in response to infiltration from surface basins has been studied for decades, but some common settings still lack analytical solutions. It has been shown that applying mathematical integration to the line-sink solution developed by Hantush in the 1960s for pumping an unconfined aquifer, considering recharge over the surface of a defined area, is identical to his solution for groundwater mounding below a rectangular basin. This implies that the superposition principle can, generally, be used to directly include pumping wells, as well as aquifer boundaries, to derive a unique solution. Moreover, other line-sink solutions can be used with a spatial superposition method for addressing a variety of hydrogeological settings, provided the behaviour of the relevant partial differential equations is linear. Based on this principle and on existing line-sink solutions, several analytical solutions are proposed that are able to consider a rectangular recharging area and a pumping well in an unconfined aquifer: (1) near a stream, (2) between a stream and a no-flow boundary, with and without the influence of natural recharge, (3) near a stream that partially penetrates an aquifer and (4) for a multi-layer aquifer. For cases including streams, transient solutions of the impact on streamflow rate are also presented. The proposed analytical solutions will be of practical use for managed aquifer recharge, in particular the design of structures for artificially recharging an aquifer, possibly pumped by one or several wells.

While groundwater constitutes a crucial resource in many crystalline-rock regions worldwide, well-yield conditions are highly variable and barely understood. Nevertheless, it is well known that fault zones may have the capacity to ensure sustainable yield in crystalline media, but there are only a few and disparate examples in the literature that describe high-yield conditions related to fault zones in crystalline rock basements. By investigating structural and hydraulic properties of remarkable yielding sites identified in the Armorican Massif, western France, this study discusses the main factors that may explain such exceptional hydrogeological properties. Twenty-three sites, identified through analysis of databases available for the region, are investigated. Results show that: (1) the highly transmissive fractures are related to fault zones which ensure the main water inflow in the pumped wells; (2) the probability of intersecting such transmissive fault zones does not vary significantly with depth, at least within the range investigated in this study (0–200 m); and (3) high yield is mainly controlled by the structural features of the fault zones, in particular the fault dip and the presence of a connected storage reservoir. Conceptual models that summarize the hydrological properties of high-yield groundwater resources related to fault zones in crystalline basement are shown and discussed.

Crystalline aquifers are among the most complex groundwater systems, requiring adequate methods for realistic characterization and suitable techniques for improving the long-term management of groundwater resources. A tool is needed that can assess the aquifer hydrodynamic parameters cost-effectively. A model is presented, based on a groundwater-budget equation and water-table fluctuation method, which combines the upscaling and the regionalization of aquifer parameters, in particular specific yield (Sy) in three dimensions (3D) and the recharge in two dimensions (2D) from rainfall at watershed scale. The tool was tested and validated on the 53-km2 Maheshwaram watershed, southern India, at a 685 m × 685 m cell scale, and was calibrated on seasonal groundwater levels from 2011 to 2016. Comparison between computed and observed water levels shows an absolute residual mean and a root mean square error of 1.17 and 1.8 m, respectively, showing the robustness of the model. Sy ranges from 0.3 to 5% (mean 1.4%), which is in good agreement with previous studies. The annual recharge from rainfall is also in good agreement with earlier studies and, despite its strong annual variability (16–199 mm/year) at watershed scale, it shows that spatial recharge is clearly controlled by spatial structure, from one year to another. Groundwater levels were also forecasted from 2020 to 2039 based on the climate and groundwater abstraction scenarios. The results show severe water-level depletion around 2024–2026 but it would be more stable in the future (after 2030) because of a lower frequency of low-rainfall monsoons.

The study of groundwater resources using pumping test data is usually carried out with the Theis solution, which enables the hydraulic parameters of porous aquifers such as the transmissivity and storage coefficient, to be estimated from the water-level drawdown. However, the data fitting can fail and provide only an indication that the pumped aquifer has a complex structure. Here, a diagnostic plot on log-derivative drawdown is used to identify flow regimes and thus aquifer heterogeneities, leading to plausible conceptual models. Nevertheless, the diagnostic plot is insufficient and must be accompanied by further modelling because of the nonuniqueness of the drawdown log-derivative signal. The proposed approach is applied to an alluvial plain in France, known to be complex because the deposition processes change over time, resulting in channel belts limited by low-permeability deposits in the floodplain or three-dimensional (3D) interconnected structures. Six analytical models were used to simulate drawdown and its derivatives during a three-day transient pumping test. The diagnostic performed on the pumping well showed that four conceptual models, with highly contrasted hydrodynamic behaviours, may correspond to the diagnostic. The joint use of pumping-well and observation-well data allowed the only appropriate model to be identified—a dual-permeability model characterizing a multilayer aquifer. The conceptual model matched the geological observations in boreholes and corroborates the fluvial sequence stratigraphy of the alluvial plain. The pumping test used here is a tool to explore the 3D architecture of the fluvial reservoir at the scale of the depositional sequence in the floodplain.

A steady-state semianalytical solution for evaluating the hydraulic head distribution created by a rectangular underground dam that fully penetrates a sloping aquifer is proposed. The length of the dam concerns only a limited part of the aquifer width. This solution uses the second method of linearization of the nonlinear partial differential equation, a closer approximation of the exact solution, which allows for the consideration that the saturated thickness varies in space. This solution improves upon a previous solution, which was developed with the use of the first method of linearization (assuming a negligible variation in saturated thickness). Results show that the maximum differences in aquifer hydraulic head upgradient and downgradient across the centre of the dam are almost identical (deviation < 2%), even when the degree of saturation or desaturation near the dam (β) is ~50%. However, the previous solution overestimates the hydraulic head upgradient of the dam and underestimates it downgradient with deviations increasing as β increases. This study shows that if β ≤ 20% the solution with the first linearization method gives satisfactory results, which is similar to previous studies. Otherwise, it is preferable to use the new solution developed. Analysis of the solution included sensitivity tests and type curves to evaluate the maximum hydraulic differences induced by the underground dam. The proposed solution can be implemented as an operational tool for engineers designing underground dams and is meant to supplement existing hydrogeological models for improving the design of such structures.

The alluvial aquifer of the transnational Roya River watershed is an important water resource for drinking water supply. Through successive European projects, a monitoring network has been implemented over the alluvial plain to improve the understanding of the functioning of this aquifer. For instance, studies highlighted the predominant role of surface water in the recharge of the aquifer. Following the storm Alex and the resulting exceptional flood event in the Roya valley in October 2020, a general decrease of the piezometric levels was observed in the alluvial aquifer. Changes in the river morphology and in the granulometry of the hyporheic zone have impacted surface water – groundwater exchanges and reduced the aquifer recharge.

Local groundwater levels in South India are falling alarmingly. In the semi-arid crystalline Deccan plateau area, agricultural production relies on groundwater resources. Downscaled Global Climate Model (GCM) data are used to force a spatially distributed agro-hydrological model in order to evaluate Climate Change (CC) effects on local groundwater extraction (GWE). The slight increase of precipitation may alleviate current groundwater depletion on average, despite the increased evaporation due to warming. Nevertheless, projected climatic extremes create worse GWE shortages than for present climate. Local conditions may lead to opposing impacts on GWE, from increases to decreases (+/−20 mm/year), for a given spatially homogeneous CC forcing. Areas vulnerable to CC in terms of irrigation apportionment are thus identified. Our results emphasize the importance of accounting for local characteristics (water harvesting systems and maximal aquifer capacity versus GWE) in developing measures to cope with CC impacts in the South Indian region.