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Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Groundwater Resources Using Groundwater Flow Models

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Climate Change and its Effects on Water Resources

Part of the book series: NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security ((NAPSC,volume 3))

Abstract

Climate change is a potential stressor of groundwater resources and its effects on the availability of groundwater need to be understood and determined. The impacts of climate change on groundwater systems are conceptually known, however in the context of climate change impact assessment there has been little research conducted on groundwater compared to surface water resources. One of the tools used to quantify the effects of climate change is to use groundwater flow models in conjunction with downscaled GCM (global circulation model) results and groundwater recharge estimation. The purpose of this study is to present an overview of groundwater modeling approaches to assess the impacts of climate change on groundwater resources. Basic requirements, challenges and different approaches to overcome them are presented. The principal challenge of any climate change impact study is the downscaling of GCM results to the basin scale. Furthermore, the estimation of the impacted groundwater recharge is particularly important in groundwater modeling studies. A summary of case studies demonstrating the various methodologies are provided, following with an overview of a recent climate change impact study conducted for Tahtalı stream basin in Turkey.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, 35160, Turkey

    Alper Elçi

Authors
  1. Alper Elçi
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Correspondence to Alper Elçi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Izmir Institute of Technology, Urla, 35430, Turkey

    Alper Baba

  2. Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Izmir Institute of Technology, Urla, 35430, Turkey

    Gökmen Tayfur

  3. Engineering Faculty, Department of Environmental Engineering, Dokuz Eylül University, Kaynaklar Campus, Buca, 35160, Turkey

    Orhan Gündüz

  4. University of Toronto, Military Trail 1265, Scarborough, M1C 1A4, Canada

    Ken W.F. Howard

  5. Denver Federal Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lakewood, 80225, USA

    Michael J. Friedel

  6. Geophysics Centre of Evora, Department of Geosciences, University of Evora, Apartado 94, Evora, 7000-671, Portugal

    Antonio Chambel

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Elçi, A. (2011). Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Groundwater Resources Using Groundwater Flow Models. In: Baba, A., Tayfur, G., Gündüz, O., Howard, K., Friedel, M., Chambel, A. (eds) Climate Change and its Effects on Water Resources. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1143-3_8

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