Simulating Groundwater Recharge Across the Southern High Plains

Abstract:

Quantifying recharge and water availability across the Southern High Plains is a difficult, but necessary, challenge for future groundwater and agricultural projections. Overland flow is not common due to limited precipitation, dry soils, and high evapotranspiration. The majority of runoff is temporarily stored in playa lakes, leading to the bulk of recharge across the region occurring in localized infiltration zones beneath these lakes. Despite the importance of regional recharge estimates, limited information exists that integrates complex characteristics of the land, climate, and hydrology in order to quantify recharge across the entire Southern High Plains aquifer. This study applies the Landscape Hydrology Model (LHM) to capture these characteristics and simulate surface water flow and groundwater recharge. This model simulates the complete water cycle across large regions, including irrigation estimates, establishing a framework to estimate recharge and groundwater availability in the Southern High Plains region. Results from this study can be used to predict the likely impacts of climate change and improve water management strategies.