Statistical Approach to River-Aquifer Interaction in the Lower Nakdong River Basin, Republic of Korea

摘要

The construction of river barrages has led to an increase in groundwater (GW) levels (WL_G) near the upstream regions of these barrages, particularly in the wet season. Statistical approaches were applied in this study to examine the relationships between WL_G and river water (RW) level (WL_R), and electrical conductivity of groundwater (EC_G) and electrical conductivity of river water (EC_R) in the Changnyeong-Haman river barrage area located downstream of the Nakdong River for the period June 2011-January 2014. Our finding suggested that the WL_G increased and the concentrations of most chemical constituents in the GW decreased in the study area owing to the construction of the barrage. However, long-term operation of the barrage is expected to trigger a decrease in the RW-GW interaction resulting from the clogging of the bed and the wall of the river, which would in turn increase GW contamination. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.