1. Analysis of Groundwater Use and Discharge in Water Curtain Cultivation Areas: Case Study of the Cheongweon and Chungju Areas
- Author
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Kyoochul Ha, Yongcheol Kim, Sang-Ho Moon, and Pilsun Yoon
- Subjects
Water discharge ,Hydrology ,Environmental Engineering ,Water curtain ,business.industry ,Economic shortage ,Groundwater use ,Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology ,Geography ,Agriculture ,Weather data ,Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Groundwater discharge ,business ,Engineering (miscellaneous) ,Groundwater - Abstract
Korean agricultural areas that employ water curtain cultivation (WCC) have recently suffered extensive groundwater shortages due to an increase in the number of facilities. The primary focus of this study is to measure the daily groundwater use and discharge rates in the Cheongweon and Chungju pilot areas, while the second focus is to estimate the total amount of groundwater used in WCC areas nationwide in Korea. Taking into consideration several factors, including motor type, outflow abilities of wells, records of daily minimum temperatures below , and the number of running wells according to weather variations, we estimated that of groundwater had been used in the 4-hectare Cheongweon pilot area during the winter period of late 2011 through early 2012. On a prorated areal basis, we can calculate that the total groundwater used nationwide was 0.57 billion in WCC areas of . This value is equivalent to 33.7% of the total agricultural groundwater use (1.69 billion ) in Korea. During 9-22 February 2012, the daily water discharge rate in the 4-ha Cheongweon pilot area ranged from 2,079 to , averaging . Combining this value with meteorological records for 94 days with a daily minimum temperature below results in an estimated groundwater volume of for the pilot area during the 2011-2012 winter period. The total amount of groundwater used nationwide in WCC areas would then be 0.59 billion , equivalent to 34.9% of the total agricultural groundwater use in Korea. In the Chungju area, the groundwater discharge rate was estimated to be less than 805 /ha. This value, combined with weather data for 108 days with a daily minimum temperature below in this area, can be applied to infer that the total groundwater volume used in WCC areas nationwide is no more than 55% of the total agricultural groundwater use in Korea.
- Published
- 2012