Hydrology

Groundwater

R. Hudson - VFR Research

Groundwater Topics...
General principles
Hydraulic head, fluid potential
Darcys Law, saturated groundwater flow

Hydraulic conductivity K
measurement of K
porosity
effects of heterogeneity on flow
groundwater flow patterns on a slope
R. Hudson - VFR Research

 relevant to Forest Hydrology

Unsaturated groundwater flow
hydraulic properties of unsaturated soil
drainage and infiltration

Interflow

Groundwater in relation to Forest

Hydrology
How does forest harvesting affect groundwater
significance of those effects
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Hydraulic head
Groundwater flows along an energy
gradient
there are two possible energy gradients that
affect groundwater flow: gravity and fluid
pressure
z = z1

p1

p2

flow under fluid pressure

z = z2
gradient where p1 > p2
gravity drainage R. Hudson - VFR Research

Groundwater head - energy for flow

Groundwater head
is measured using
a piezometer.

z = elevation head
above reference
elevation (datum)
Y = pressure head (m)

h=z+Y
z
datum

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= P/rg
where
P = fluid pressure
r = fluid density
g = acceleration
due to gravity

Water table well vs. piezometer

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Darcys Law
Groundwater flow is a function of
hydraulic head gradient
total flow Q has units of volume/time
typically m3/s or litres/sec

specific discharge q is flow per unit area, units

of length

dh
q K
dl

the negative sign indicates

that flow moves in the direction
of falling head

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Hydraulic conductivity K
groundwater flow is driven by the
hydraulic gradient dh/dl
K is a measure of the resistance to flow, is
a property of the porous medium and the
fluid

krg

K has units of m/s or cm/s

k is permeability, is a property of the
medium related to diameter, packing,
shape and roughness of grains (m2, cm2)
is the viscosity of the fluid (kg/m.s)
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Range of values of K
Medium
Gravel
Sand
Typical BC Forest soil
Bog soils
Marine clay
Basal till
Igneous rock, shale
Sandstone

K in m/s
10-3 to 1
3X10-6 to 10-2
10-7 to 10-5
10-9 to 10-7
10-12 to 10-9
10-12 to 10-10
10-13 to 10-10
10-10 to 10-6

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Porosity
Porosity is another important property of
porous media that governs water flow
porosity is a measure of the capacity of the
medium to hold water
a volume VT of soil of rock is divided up into
the volume of voids Vv and volume of solids Vs
porosity n = Vv / VT
void ratio e = Vv / Vs
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Range of values of porosity

Medium

Porosity (%)

gravel

25-40

sand

25-50

silt

35-50

clay

40-70

sandstone

5-30

limestone

0-20

shale

0-10

fractured basalt

5-50

fractured crystalline rock

0-10

dense crystalline rock

0-5

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Relations between K and n

for soil , they are inversely proportional
for well sorted sediments, the finer grained they
are, the lower K is and the higher n is
for poorly sorted sediments, smaller grains fill
in voids between larger grains reducing K and n
for rock, K and n are related to structure
sedimentary rock, both n and K are less than
that of parent sediments due to mineral
deposition in voids
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Relations between K and n...

metamorphic and igneous rock have very low
primary porosity, but K and secondary porosity
are related to fracture spacing

porosity affects velocity of flow:

the lower the porosity, the greater the flow
velocity:
v = q/n
flow velocity = specific discharge/porosity
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Heterogeneity
Geologic formations are generally
not homogeneous
in BC, most forested terrain is characterized by
relatively thin (1-2 metre) coarse grained soils
over basal till or igneous/metamorphic bedrock
the contact between soil and basal layer
involves a sharp discontinuity in K such that the
till or bedrock interface forms an impermeable
boundary
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Flow in layered heterogeneity

Flow lines are perpendicular to equipotentials
sand

increasing head

clay
Flow will tend to go along the zone of higher K, and across
the zone of lower K. Thus preferential flow occurs in high K
zones.
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Groundwater flow on a slope

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Groundwater Recharge
Groundwater flow
follows hydraulic
gradient: total head
decreases with depth,
thus there is a downward
component to the
groundwater flow. This
is groundwater recharge,
and in the abcence of
water input, the water
table will fall.

Groundwater discharge
At riparian sites, groundwater discharge often occurs.
In this case, head increases
with depth, resulting in an
upward component to groundwater flow. In the example
shown, under high flow conditions the water table rises
to the surface near the stream,
groundwater discharges out
of the soil and enters the
stream by overland flow.

Later that year...

...at the same site, under low
flow conditions, the water table
and the stream stage have
dropped. Groundwater is still
discharging to the stream
channel, but not at the soil
surface. Total head is now
independent of depth within the
soil. There is no longer an
upward component to groundwater flow. Discharge to the
channel is essentially horizontal.

Occurrence of groundwater
Saturated vs. unsaturated
Define q as water content of soil
Saturated: all the void spaces are filled with
water: qs = n
Unsaturated: void spaces are only partially
filled with water: q < n
K is reduced because cross sectional area for
flow is less than saturated cross section: K is
now a function of moisture content
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Saturated vs. unsaturated flow

below water table

Saturated: void spaces

filled with water: q = n,
Y>0

above water table

Unsaturated: voids partially

occupied by air: q < n,Y < 0.
K is reduced; K = K(Y) or K(q)

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Soil drainage and infiltration

If pressure head increases with depth,
then why does soil drain?
recall, there are two components of head:
pressure head and gravity head
soil drains under gravity when elevation
gradient (dz/dl) > pressure gradient (dY/dl)
drainage will continue until equilibrium is
reached
equilibrium may never occur
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Infiltration
Initially, moisture content at the surface is
low, hence K is low
When water is supplied to a dry soil,
initially the water is absorbed, raising the
moisture content and hence increasing Y
this creates a head gradient that drives
water down towards the water table.
water moves down under large head
gradient at the wetting front , overcoming
the fact that K is low for dry soil
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Effects of ground skidding and roads

ground based yarding can result in soil
compaction, thereby reducing infiltration
capacities
exessive access roads
ground skidding

these effects would tend to result in increased

runoff, hence reduced infiltration

Road cuts on steep terrain can

interrupt subsurface flows
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Effect of road cut on groundwater flow

Before: groundwater flow on
treed slope

After: potentially
increased flow, interception by road cut,
conversion to
ditch flow

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 intercepted flows can either be routed to the

stream channel thereby altering streamflow
hydrograph, or can be routed back onto slope
below the road by way of culverts or cross
ditches
in many cases, poorly placed culverts and
inadequate culvert density have resulted in
concentration of ditch flows onto unstable
slopes, resulting in landslides
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