VTEI / Current Issue

Current Issue

Groundwater abstraction noticeably reduces the flow of some watercourses during the dry season

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The paper highlights the fact that some significant watercourses dry up during periods of minimal flows due to groundwater abstraction. It provides a summary of the most affected significant watercourses in the Czech Republic. Large concentrated groundwater abstraction has a considerable impact on small and medium-sized watercourses. To select the most significant effects of abstraction on stream flows, we used the ratio of abstraction to 355-day flows from 1931–1960. Watercourses exceeding 30 % were selected. In half of the selected cases the following relationship was confirmed: the 355-day flow from 1931–1960, reduced by the abstraction rate, is approximately equal to the 355-day flow from 1991–2020. The cases where this relationship does not apply can be explained by changes in abstraction volumes, declining groundwater levels and flows in the wider area due to groundwater collection and the use of static groundwater reserves. The effect of climate change is unlikely to be present in the baseflow in the cases studied. Our analysis identified 13 cases where groundwater abstraction is severely affecting the flow of significant watercourses. In about half of these cases, there is an alternative source of water that should be used when the flow of the watercourse is at a minimum. Another option to protect water resources is to apply the minimum groundwater level or minimum residual flow under the Water Act.

Influence of retention curve parameter α on capillary barrier efficiency

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This study is focused on the calculation of parameter α of the wetting branch of the retention curve and on the influence of its value on the efficiency of capillary barriers. The capillary barrier is a simple method of insulating landfills. The effectiveness of the capillary barriers was tested using numerical models, which allow greater testing variability compared to physical measurement. Thanks to numerical models, it was possible to evaluate the direct effect of changing the parameters of retention curves on the functioning of capillary barriers. Hysteresis of retention curves was included in the construction of the numerical models, and then its effect on the agreement of the model results with the measured data was evaluated. Numerical modelling is a suitable and reliable tool for verifying the efficiency of capillary barriers. Due to the sensitivity of the results to the parameters of the task, it is necessary to determine as precisely as possible all the necessary input parameters so that the resulting model has real informative value.

Old groundwater in hydrogeological regions 4410 and 4522

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The article presents a project from the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic dealing with the hydrogeology of old waters in hydrogeological regions 4410 and 4522. The aim of the paper is to present a brief hydrogeological characterization of the area of interest, to present the results after the first year of the project, and to describe the uncertainties of existing information. Old groundwaters that have negligible concentrations of tritium can be considered a strategic resource because they are less susceptible to current contamination.

Methodology for creating a Map of the Vulnerability of the Quantity of Natural Groundwater Resources to Drought for the Czech Republic

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Groundwater drought affecting groundwater availability is still mostly understood as a subset of hydrological drought. The impact of hydrological drought on groundwater is manifested with a delay and depends on its duration. An expert interactive Map of the Vulnerability of the Quantity of Dynamic Groundwater Resources to Drought for the Czech Republic was created as part of the TA CR project SS01010208 – “Controlled Groundwater Recharge as a Tool to Reduce the Impacts of Drought in the Czech Republic”. The presented vulnerability map is created on the basis of the use of precipitation normal and regression relationships between precipitation and total runoff and groundwater discharge (base flow) using the Base Flow Index (BFI) and ratio of base flow in the driest year of 2010–2019 to the long-term average of base flow (M index), which guarantees uniform processing for the entire Czech Republic at a scale of 1 : 50,000 and an objective comparison of the vulnerability of dynamic groundwater resources to drought throughout the country. It is also based on recorded groundwater abstraction and in the case of municipalities with individual supply, the abstraction is calculated from the number of inhabitants and the national average consumption of drinking water per capita. The Map is compiled based on the balance of dynamic groundwater resources and groundwater abstraction. It contains six categories and shows which regions and areas will struggle to have sufficient groundwater resources during periods of prolonged drought. It synthesizes all available flow logs and other data until 2020 and is designed so that the layers with variable information can be updated in the future.

Interview with doc. RNDr. Zbyněk Hrkal, CSc., hydrogeologist, writer, and populariser of water management

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The October issue of the VTEI journal deals mainly with groundwater and its management. We therefore discussed the promotion of this topic with a colleague who is engaged in research in groundwater, has been lecturing on hydrogeology
for a long time at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, and deals with the topic of water management in his publications. “The main problem in the world is not a physical lack of water, but poverty, illiteracy, and economic backwardness,” says Zbyněk Hrkal.

Danube Regional Water Lighthouse

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Accessible and high-quality water is a natural resource essential for life, well-being, and social prosperity. After decades of intensive exploitation, pollution and socio-economic pressure, Europe’s freshwaters and seas are at risk of degradation. This has to be seen not only as a potential dramatic loss from an economic point of view, but also it means unpredictable ecological, social, and cultural damage. The European Commission has responded to this challenge by creating the research and innovation mission Restore our oceans and waters; with a 2030 target, the aim is to provide a systemic approach for the restoration, protection and conservation of oceans and freshwater. In 2022–2025, a development and pilot phase has been underway, during which four so-called Mission Lighthouses were launched. “The Danube Regional Water Lighthouse Action” (DALIA) aims to significantly contribute to the improvement of the state of the Danube basin; it is financed by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme with a total subsidy of € 8,499,236. The basin is home to almost 80 million people and extends over 19 European countries, which is exceptional even on a global scale.

Hydrogeological aspects of boreholes for heat pumps

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In recent years, there have been significant legislative and methodological changes in the construction and use of geothermal heat pumps (GHP), also known as ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs). The use of GHP has become a widespread
solution for heating buildings of all kinds, from family homes to industrial buildings. This article concerns GHP (ground-to-water and water-to-water types) that use shallow geothermal energy, obtained mainly through boreholes.