Investigating a spatial approach to groundwater quantity management using radius of influence with a case study of South Africa

Authors

  • Paul Seward Department of Earth Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, South Africa
  • Yongxin Xu Department of Earth Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, South Africa
  • Anthony Turton University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v41i1.10

Keywords:

groundwater, sustainability, spatial, water balance, indicators, institutions

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a simple, spatially-based approach to groundwater sustainability using radius of influence should be used to replace the pervasive, yet deprecated, ‘natural recharge water balance’ volumetric method. Using South Africa as a case study, the radius of influence methodology was shown to be scientifically practical, to provide plausible results, and to be permissible under the country’s water laws. The approach also provides better indicators for institutions involved in groundwater management, and remains conceptually correct at all scales. However, further research is recommended on more robust alternatives to the Cooper-Jacob equation for determining radius of influence.

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Published

2015-01-28

Issue

Vol. 41 No. 1 January (2015): Water SA

Section

Research paper

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Paul Seward, Yongxin Xu, Anthony Turton

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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The content of this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.  Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal under the terms of this Licence, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, provided the source is attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors.

How to Cite

Paul Seward, Yongxin Xu and Anthony Turton (2015) “Investigating a spatial approach to groundwater quantity management using radius of influence with a case study of South Africa ”, Water SA, 41(1 January). doi:10.4314/wsa.v41i1.10.