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A Study On Stream Bed Hydraulic Conductivity of Beas River in India
A Study On Stream Bed Hydraulic Conductivity of Beas River in India
1,2
Civil Engineering Department, NIT Hamirpur
Abstract: Hydraulic conductivity is one of the principal and most important soil hydraulic characteristics and is used in all
equations for groundwater (subsurface water) flow. The vertical hydraulic conductivity of streambed plays an important role
in river water and groundwater interaction. Determination of the vertical hydraulic conductivity of the entire riverbed has
significant importance for the study of groundwater recharge and is a necessary parameter in numerical modeling of stream-
aquifer interactions. In the present study, primary objective was to determine the variation of streambed vertical hydraulic
conductivity along Beas River. To carry out this objective, three locations along the river (A, B and C) and four transects at
each location was selected. Data was collected for two seasons i.e. winter (November-January) and summer (March-May) of
2015-2016. The spatial and temporal variation of streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity of Beas riverbed using field
standpipe permeameter test and laboratory constant head permeameter test were carried out in this study. The results
indicated that there was a wide variation of Kv values obtained from lab test and field test. The values from laboratory test
were smaller than those of field test in all locations. Across the river, values of Kv increased from river bank to the middle of
the river at all locations. Along the river, the streambed Kv values decreased from location-A to location-B. At location-C,
the Kv values were found to be higher than that at location-B. The streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity values obtained
in summer season were larger than those obtained during winter season. The statistical distribution of streambed vertical
hydraulic conductivity along the Beas River was studied using normality tests. It was also observed from the normality tests
that Kv values were not normally distributed at location A and location B, but were normally distributed at location C.
Keywords: Streambed hydraulic conductivity, Beas River, spatial and temporal variation, permeameter tests, normality test.
pores. It also depends on the soil temperature and the
1. INTRODUCTION viscosity and density of the water (Oosterbaan and Nijland,
Hydraulic properties of a streambed are major control in the 1994). In some structure-less soils (sandy soils) the K value
hydrologic connection between a stream and an aquifer is the same in all directions, but usually the K values varies
Chenet al. (2008). They are key parameters in the with flow direction. Anisotropy plays very important role
calculation of stream flow depletion (Chen and Shu, 2006) . in soil hydrology. Hydraulic conductivity in vertical and
Better understandings on the sensitivity of various horizontal direction is marked as Kv , Kh and value in
hydraulic properties are beneficial for model development
and application purposes (Rocha et al., 2006). Streambed intermediate direction is Kr . Soil layers vertical hydraulic
characteristics such as vertical hydraulic conductivity, bed conductivity is very often different from horizontal
material, thickness, width, topography, and the curvature conductivity because of vertical differences in the structure,
influence the streambed hydraulic properties and thus water texture and porosity (Stibinger, 2014). The vertical and
movement (Packman et al., 2004). The application of flow horizontal hydraulic conductivities of the streambed play
laws to engineering problems such as design of earth dams, important roles in surface water and groundwater
tailing dams, clay liner for waste management practice, and exchanges. Therefore, determination of the streambed
slope subjected to rain water infiltration requires the anisotropy is of importance in the analysis of stream-
quantification of hydraulic properties of soil (Gallage et al., aquifer interactions (Cardenas and Zlotnik, 2003).
2013). Streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity plays an
Modeling of a groundwater system is generally based on important role in understanding and quantifying the stream-
solving mathematical equations containing many aquifer interactions and stream ecosystems (Generaeux et
parameters characterizing the system. In order to have a al., 2008, Mckenzie, 2008). Higher streambed Kv induces a
reliable model, its parameter values should fit their actual higher rate of stream depletion due to groundwater
ones. Sometimes the parameters can be measured from withdrawal. Therefore, knowledge of streambed Kv is
samples in the field or in a laboratory, or they can be
determined by specially designed pumping well tests essential to characterize hydrologic connections between a
(Ibrahim, 2013). Accurate estimation of aquifer properties stream and its adjacent aquifers, and is a necessary
such as hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity and parameter in numerical modeling of stream-aquifer
storativity are considered crucial for successful interactions (Min et al., 2012). The major goal in local
groundwater development and management practices water resource management is to develop practices that
(Oosterbaan and Nijland, 1994). maintain adequate water levels in the streams while
Hydraulic conductivity K is one of the principal and most
allowing withdrawals for agricultural, domestic and
industrial production. The first step in this direction is
important soil hydraulic characteristics (parameters) and it determining the spatial variation in streambed hydraulic
is an important factor in water transport in the soil and is conductovity (Wue et al., 2015).
used in all equations for groundwater (subsurface water)
The Kv value of a soil profile can be highly variable from
flow (Stibinger, 2014). The value of a saturated soil Ks
place to place as well as at different depths (spatial
represents its average hydraulic conductivity, which variability). Not only can different soil layers have different
depends mainly on the size, shape, and distribution of the hydraulic conductivities but, even within a soil layer, the
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K QL (2)
Ah
3
Figure 2 In-situ permeameter [Chen, 2002] Where Q = Flow rate (m /day); L = length of sediment
In the present study, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe of 2
column; A = area (m ); h = head (height of the water).
inner diameter 3.8 cm and length 140 cm was used. The
tube was inserted into the streambed sediments, ensuring
that the length of the sediment column was approximately
35 cm. River water was poured carefully into the pipe
without disturbing the sediment column inside the pipe.
After the initial water head in the pipe was recorded, the
stop watch was started and the elapsed time was recorded.
The water head in the pipe was recorded according to the
set time interval. Water temperature was also noted using
thermometer. During the each test, the water depth was
measured at each test location to determine its relationship
with streambed hydraulic conductivity. Using the water Figure 4 Constant head permeameter apparatus
head records at given time intervals, the values of Kv were 3.3 Statistical analysis
The streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity values
calculated from modified Hvorslev solution (Chen, 2002): obtained from the field permeameter tests were analyzed
Lv h1 statistically by normality tests to check whether the values
Kv ln (1)
t1 t2 h2 are distributed normally along the river. Normality tests are
used to determine if a data set is well-modeled by a normal
Where, LV = length of the sediment column in the pipe (m); distribution and to compute how likely it is for a random
h1 = initial hydraulic head (m); h2 = final hydraulic head variable underlying the data set to be normally distributed
(Normailty test, 2016).
(m); t1 = initial time at h1 (day) and t2 = final time at h2
(day). Statistical analysis of present data was done using the
normality tests by histogram plots and normality test
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a x
i1
3
S N 1N 2 SD
i N 1i i (12)
(4) i1
Where x = data observations; m = mean; SD = standard
deviation:
Where ai = weight for sample size N . corresponding to the calculated W is found. If the p
n
4
x m 2 value is less than 0.05, and then the null hypothesis is
N N 1 i 1 3N 1 rejected (Mendis and Pala, 2003).
4
EK N 1N 2N 3 SD
N 2N 3
(5) 3.3.5 Box plot
The critical value of J-B test at significance level of 0.05 is A box plot provides an excellent visual summary of many
5.99. If the calculated value JB is found to be greater than important aspects of a distribution. Box plots display
the critical value, then the null hypothesis is rejected and batches of data (McGill et al., 1978). It is a graphical
data will be concluded as not normally distributed. rendition of statistical data based on the minimum, first
quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum. The term
3.3.3 Lilliefors test "box plot" comes from the fact that the graph looks like a
The Lilliefors corrected Kolmogorov-Smirnov KS Test rectangle with lines extending from the top and bottom
(Box plot, 2016). Box plots provide basic information about
compares the cumulative distribution of data to the a distribution and are good at portraying extreme values and
expected cumulative normal distribution. This test is are especially good at showing differences between
different from the KS test because the population distributions (McGill et al., 1978).
parameters that are unknown are estimated, while the The values of streambed at four transect points across the
statistic is the same. The table values of the two tests are river calculated for upstream and downstream of three
different, which results in different decisions. The test locations along the river during two seasons i.e. winter
statistics associated with Lilliefors test is given as (Abdi (November-January) and summer (March-May) using field
and Molin, 2007): and laboratory tests were plotted against distance of each
transect from the bank in order to analyze the variation of
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Kv . Figures 5 is a typical of such graphs for winter season considerably less sediment transport and deposition from
at location C upstream. the tributary to the main river, thus resulting in higher Kv
during summer.
4 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
4.1 Normality test
Histograms representing graphically the frequency
distribution of field Kv values of each location (A, B and C)
in a 15-km reach of the Beas River and comprising of
sixteen streambed Kv values (upstream and downstream
values of two seasons) were plotted. The population was
taken as sixteen Kv values ((4 u/s transect points + 4 d/s
Figure 5 Variation of Kv across the river section at transect point) two seasons = 16). Their corresponding
frequency and normal probability were found and the plots
Location-C u/s site (winter season)
were drawn with streambed Kv values along abscissa and,
From these it was noted that there was a wide variation of frequency and normal probability along ordinate. Figure 7
streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity obtained from is one such typical plot for location A.
field and laboratory test. The Kv values from laboratory
test were smaller than those of field test in all locations. The
variation of Kv obtained from field and lab tests can
be due to the disturbance in the structure of the sample
taken for the lab test by sediment sampling. In the case of
the field test, the sample inside the pipe was less disturbed
than the sample collected for lab tests. It was also observed
that up to a distance of 30 meters, there was not much
variation in field and laboratory Kv values. Beyond 30
meters, high variation of was observed and this may be due Figure 7 Histogram plot of streambed hydraulic
to higher variation in riverbed profile.
conductivity at location-A
It may also be noted that, at all locations along the river,
Normality tests by these histogram plots showed that
values of Kv increased from river bank to the middle of streambed values were not normally distributed at location
the river. The center of the river usually has higher flow A and location B but were normally distributed at location
velocity than the sides of the channel. A larger value may C. At location A and B, the streambed values were
occur in the channel sediments where the flow velocity is positively skewed as per the histogram plots.
generally higher, since fine-grained sediments can be
washed away by higher flows and they may deposit again in The normality test methods such as JarqueBera (JB),
the area with lower flow velocity. This may lead to higher Lilliefors, and ShapiroWilk (SW) tests were also carried
seepage towards middle of the river. Greater water depth out and the results obtained from these tests are shown in
can also result in coarser sediments which can lead to the Table 2.
higher streambed Kv
Table 2 Results of normality tests for location A, B and C
Figure 6 is a typical plot showing variation of Kv at location
A (d/s) for summer season (March-May).
Location Jarque Lilliefors Shapiro-Wilk
Bera (JB) Test (S-W) Test
Test
Location-A Yes No No
Location-B No No No
Location-C No Yes No
REFERENCES
1. Abdi, H. and Molin, P. (2007). Lilliefors/Van Soests test of
normality, Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics, pp.
540-544. http://www.utd.edu/herve
2. Box plot, http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/box-plot, 09-
June-2016.
3. Cardenas, M. B. and Zlotnik, V. A. (2003). A simple
Figure 8 Box plot of streambed Kv values of three test constant-head injection test for streambed hydraulic
locations (from sites A to C) between Jangalberi and Baleth conductivity estimation. Ground Water, Vol. 41, No. 6, pp.
of Beas River 867-871.
4. Chen, X. (2002). Determination of Streambed Hydraulic
From this plot, it can be seen that, the streambed Kv values
Conductivity Using Extended Permeameter Methods.
were found to be maximum at location-A and minimum at
Ground Water/Surface Water Interactions AWRA, Summer
location-B. Along the river flow, the streambed Kv values Specialty Conference, July 1-3.
decreased from location-A to location-B. The overall 5. Chen, X., Burbach, M. and Cheng, C. (2008). Electrical and
reduction in values may be due to the effect of tributaries hydraulic vertical variability in channel sediments and its
which carry fine sediments in to the main stream. At effects on stream flow depletion due to groundwater
location-C, the Kv values were found to be higher than extraction. Journal of Hydrology, 352, pp. 250 266.
that at location-B. Absence of tributaries in between 6. Chen X. H. and Shu, L. C. (2006). Groundwater
location-B and C can be the reason for the sudden increase evapotranspiration captured by seasonally pumping wells in
in Kv values. river valleys. Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 318, pp. 334347.
7. Gallage, C., Kodikara, J., and Uchimura, T. (2013).
5. CONCLUSION Laboratory measurement of hydraulic conductivity functions
The variation in the vertical hydraulic conductivity was of two unsaturated sandy soils during drying and wetting
studied in a reach of Beas River in India. Data was Processes." Soil and Foundations, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp. 417-
collected at the upstream and downstream of three sections 430.
along the reach with six points on each transects for
8. Genereux, D. P., Leahy, S., Mitasova, H., Kennedy, C. D.,
summer and winter season. It was found that:
and Corbett, D. R. (2008). Spatial and temporal variability
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