“Hazards Related to Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions”

Yev Kontar

Illinois State Geological Survey
Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability – University of Illinois

 

Worldwide, as many as half a million people have died in natural and man-made disasters since the turn of the 21st century. Natural and man-made hazards lead to extreme financial losses (Elsner et al, 2009). Hazards related to groundwater–surface water (GW–SW) interactions have been underestimated (Kontar et al, 2009). This presentation considers two case studies: one in Central Asia (Aral Sea region) and one in the Indian Ocean (December 2004 tsunami) that are important examples whose method of treatment provide insight into future feasibility studies of hazards related to GW–SW interaction processes. The Aral Sea region is known as an ecological disaster zone. To provide reasonable living conditions for the local population, it is necessary to drastically improve the quality of the water used for human needs by developing a source of safe and sustainable groundwater input to the Aral Sea region. In the Indian Ocean tsunami waves, which affected thousands of miles of coastal zone in SE Asia, caused an ecological disaster by the large inflow of salt seawater into coastal aquifers. The tsunami has created an accelerating process of salt-water intrusion and fresh-water contamination in affected regions that now require drastic remediation measures. Analytical approaches have been developed for analysis of coastal water balance and temporal evolution of water basins and coastal aquifers after hazardous events.