Basin-scale geohydrologic drought flow features of riparian aquifers in the southern Great Plains

• Published in: Water resources research Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 233 - 240
• Main Authors: Brutsaert, W. (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.), Lopez, J.P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-02-1998
• Subjects: AGUAS SUBTERRANEAS; AQUIFER DEPTH; BASSIN VERSANT; CAPA FREATICA; CATCHMENT HYDROLOGY; CORRIENTES SUBTERRANEAS; COURANT SOUTERRAIN; COURS D'EAU; CUENCAS HIDROGRAFICAS; CURSOS DE AGUA; DEBIT; DEPTH; DRAINABLE POROSITY; DRAINAGE; DRENAJE; DROUGHT; EAU SOUTERRAINE; EQUATIONS; FLOW RATE; GASTO; GENIE HYDRAULIQUE; GEOHYDROLOGY; GROUNDWATER; GROUNDWATER FLOW; GROUNDWATER TABLE; HIDROLOGIA; HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY; HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; HYDRAULICS; HYDROLOGIE; HYDROLOGY; INGENIERIA HIDRAULICA; MATEMATICAS; MATHEMATICS; MATHEMATIQUE; NAPPE SOUTERRAINE; OKLAHOMA; POROSIDAD; POROSITE; POROSITY; PROFONDEUR; PROFUNDIDAD; RIVERS; SECHERESSE; SEQUIA; STREAM FLOW; WASHITA RIVER BASIN; WASHITA RIVER EXPERIMENTAL WATERSHED; WATERSHEDS; Oklahoma
• ISSN: 0043-1397; 1944-7973
• DOI: 10.1029/97WR03068

Low-streamflow hydrographs from 22 subbasins in the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Washita River Experimental Watershed complex in central Oklahoma were subjected to recession slope analysis; this method, after that of Brutsaert and Nieber [1977], was derived from a Dupuit-Boussinesq formulation for the groundwater outflows from the adjoining phreatic aquifers. The long-time aquifer response characteristics were generally found to be close to linear, and the short-time response characteristics were consistent with Boltzmann similarity. Representative values of the resulting basin-scale effective groundwater parameters were (35 days)-1 for the low-flow extinction coefficient (i.e., a storage half-life of 25 days); 0.021 m2 s-1 for the hydraulic diffusivity, Dh; 0.0035 m2 s-1/2 for the hydraulic desorptivity, Deh 8 x 10-4 ms-1 for the hydraulic conductivity k; and 0.018 for the drainable porosity (or specific yield), f. The variabilities of Dh, Deh, and k from basin to basin could be better represented by the log-normal than by the normal distribution; f could be described nearly equally well by both. The storage half-life is moderately and positively correlated with basin size; in the case of k the correlation is negative but weaker. Any scale dependence of Dh, Deh, and f appears to be negligible