Dam Operations and Subsurface Hydrogeology Control Dynamics of
Hydrologic Exchange Flows in a Regulated River Reach
Abstract
Hydrologic exchange flows (HEFs) across the river-aquifer interface have
important implications for biogeochemical processes and contaminant
plume migration in the river corridor, yet little is known about the
hydrogeomorphic factors that control HEFs dynamics under dynamic flow
conditions. Here, we developed a 3-D numerical model for a large
regulated river corridor along the Columbia River to study how HEFs are
controlled by the interplays between dam-regulated flow conditions and
hydrogeomorphic features of such river corridor system. Our results
revealed highly variable intra-annual spatiotemporal patterns in HEFs
along the 75-km river reach, as well as strong interannual variability
with larger exchange volumes in wet years than dry years. In general,
the river was losing during late spring to early summer when the river
stage was high, and river was gaining in fall and winter when river
stage was low. The magnitude and timing of river stage fluctuations
controlled the timing of high exchange rates. Both river channel
geomorphology and the thickness of a highly permeable river bank
geologic layer controlled the locations of exchange hot spots, while the
latter played a dominant role. Dam-induced, sub-daily to daily river
stage fluctuations drove high-frequency variations in HEFs across the
river-aquifer interfaces, resulting in greater overall exchange volumes
as compared to the case without high-frequency flows. Our results
demonstrated that upstream dam operations enhanced the exchange between
river water and groundwater with strong potential influence on the
associated biogeochemical processes and on the fate and transport of
groundwater contaminant plumes in such river corridors.