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1. Tolerance of aquifer stoneflies to repeated hypoxia exposure and oxygen dynamics in an alluvial aquifer

   https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.225623  

   Malison, Rachel L.; DelVecchia, Amanda G.; Woods, H. Arthur; Hand, Brian K.; Luikart, Gordon; Stanford, Jack A. (August 2020, The Journal of Experimental Biology)

   null (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT Aquatic insects cope with hypoxia and anoxia using a variety of behavioral and physiological responses. Most stoneflies (Plecoptera) occur in highly oxygenated surface waters, but some species live underground in alluvial aquifers containing heterogeneous oxygen concentrations. Aquifer stoneflies appear to be supported by methane-derived food resources, which they may exploit using anoxia-resistant behaviors. We documented dissolved oxygen dynamics and collected stoneflies over 5 years in floodplain wells of the Flathead River, Montana. Hypoxia regularly occurred in two wells, and nymphs of Paraperla frontalis were collected during hypoxic periods. We measured mass-specific metabolic rates (MSMRs) at different oxygen concentrations (12, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0.5 mg l −1 , and during recovery) for 111 stonefly nymphs to determine whether aquifer and benthic taxa differed in hypoxia tolerance. Metabolic rates of aquifer taxa were similar across oxygen concentrations spanning 2 to 12 mg l −1 ( P >0.437), but the MSMRs of benthic taxa dropped significantly with declining oxygen ( P <0.0001; 2.9-times lower at 2 vs. 12 mg l −1 ). Aquifer taxa tolerated short-term repeated exposure to extreme hypoxia surprisingly well (100% survival), but repeated longer-term (>12 h) exposures resulted in lower survival (38–91%) and lower MSMRs during recovery. Our work suggests that aquifer stoneflies have evolved a remarkable set of behavioral and physiological adaptations that allow them to exploit the unique food resources available in hypoxic zones. These adaptations help to explain how large-bodied consumers might thrive in the underground aquifers of diverse and productive river floodplains. 

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2. Can Managed Aquifer Recharge Overcome Multiple Droughts?

   https://doi.org/10.3390/w13162278  

   Zhao, Mengqi; Boll, Jan; Adam, Jennifer C.; Beall King, Allyson (August 2021, Water)

   null (Ed.)

   Frequent droughts, seasonal precipitation, and growing agricultural water demand in the Yakima River Basin (YRB), located in Washington State, increase the challenges of optimizing water provision for agricultural producers. Increasing water storage through managed aquifer recharge (MAR) can potentially relief water stress from single and multi-year droughts. In this study, we developed an aggregated water resources management tool using a System Dynamics (SD) framework for the YRB and evaluated the MAR implementation strategy and the effectiveness of MAR in alleviating drought impacts on irrigation reliability. The SD model allocates available water resources to meet instream target flows, hydropower demands, and irrigation demand, based on system operation rules, irrigation scheduling, water rights, and MAR adoption. Our findings suggest that the adopted infiltration area for MAR is one of the main factors that determines the amount of water withdrawn and infiltrated to the groundwater system. The implementation time frame is also critical in accumulating MAR entitlements for single-year and multi-year droughts mitigation. In addition, adoption behaviors drive a positive feedback that MAR effectiveness on drought mitigation will encourage more MAR adoptions in the long run. MAR serves as a promising option for water storage management and a long-term strategy for MAR implementation can improve system resilience to unexpected droughts. 

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3. A simplified method to evaluate geothermal storage in an aquifer with consideration of heat transfer between aquifer and caprock/baserock

   https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202020507007  

   Cinar, Alp; Sun, Xiang; Soga, Kenichi; Lu, Xiaoyu; Nico, Peter; Dobson, Patrick (January 2020, E3S Web of Conferences)

   McCartney, J.S.; Tomac, I. (Ed.)

   Storing and extracting heat during different seasons of the year is possible through the utilization of a ground aquifer with an open loop Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system. Being able to predict the hydrothermal performance of geothermal storage is required for an efficient operation of the system for cooling and heating of buildings. Complex 2D and 3D hydrothermal numerical models can simulate the thermal performance of geothermal storage accurately but often lack the desired computational speed for conducting large number of simulations for performance optimization. Instead, a 1D radial model can be used to conduct fast evaluation. However, it is important that the model computes the amount of heat loss from an aquifer into the overburden and underlying layers accurately to evaluate the amount of geothermal storage in the aquifer at different times. In this study, a source term is introduced into a 1D model to simulate the heat transfer between the aquifer and caprock/baserock in the vertical direction. The following two heat loss models are introduced in the heat advection-conduction equation: (i) Newton’s heating/cooling law, which leads to a closed form solution, and (ii) a conduction-based semi-analytical model, which requires a 1D finite element solution. When compared to a full 2D axisymmetric simulation result, it was found that the Newton’s heating/cooling law model with a constant heat transfer coefficient works well in cases of fast heat flow rate in thick aquifers of around 100 meters. But large errors in estimating heat dissipation are observed in cases with low heat flow rate in thin aquifers, especially for simulations exceeding two to five years. On the other hand, the model with the conduction-based semi-analytical solution gives a better match for these conditions. 

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4. Parsing Routes to Aquifer Recharge Along Mountain Fronts

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EO154358  

   Cook, Terri (February 2021, Eos)

   null (Ed.)

   Research from the Tucson Basin indicates that tracers can be used to distinguish surface and subsurface recharge, providing crucial data to support sustainable water management in arid environments. 

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5. Unlocking aquifer sustainability through irrigator-driven groundwater conservation

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01437-0  

   Orduña_Alegría, Maria Elena; Zipper, Sam; Shin, Hoon C; Deines, Jillian M; Hendricks, Nathan P; Allen, Jonah J; Bohling, Geoffrey C; Golden, Bill; Griggs, Burke W; Lauer, Stephen; et al (December 2024, Nature Sustainability)