Journal of Hydrology最新文献

{"title":"Hydrological impact of small hydropower development on mountain rivers in Southwest China and the role of environmental flows","authors":"Xintong Li ,&nbsp;Wouter Buytaert ,&nbsp;Qi Tang ,&nbsp;Yuanming Wang ,&nbsp;Ruifeng Liang ,&nbsp;Kefeng Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133078","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133078","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Small- and medium-sized mountain rivers are often the locations of small hydropower plants (SHPs), which bring electricity to remote mountainous areas but also cause a range of environmental and ecological impacts. Alterations in hydrological regimes are the most direct impact of SHPs, which in turn triggers changes in physical, chemical, and biological conditions. Environmental agencies of many countries have taken measures to mitigate hydrological changes in these rivers, including requiring SHPs to release environmental flows. However, it remains unclear how effective these measures are in compensating for hydrological changes. In this study, we examined hydrological alterations in seven small mountain river basins in the Yangtze River using a combination of numerical simulation and statistical analysis. A framework was presented and applied to assess the impacts of SHPs and the effects of environmental flows. A total of 32 hydrological indicators were selected and calculated based on measured and modeled hydrological data, and the changes in these indicators were assessed using three indexes. The values of extreme and dynamic water conditions indicators were significantly changed after the SHPs were fully developed. Five indicators, including the number of low pulses, the number of high pulses, the duration of low pulses, the daily rise rate, and the number of flow reversals, were identified as the most unfavorable indicators. A constant environmental flow release of 10% of the long-term average flow, which is the current policy, had a limited impact on mitigating adverse hydrological changes. We therefore suggest the development of an environmental flow regime that better mimics natural flow variability, but not just based on a constant release threshold in small hydropower-developed rivers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 133078"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143696958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improved model of runoff-seepage coupling in unsaturated soil based on fractal theory","authors":"Xiaodong Zhang ,&nbsp;Qunjie Peng ,&nbsp;Siqi Yang ,&nbsp;Min Liu ,&nbsp;Li Wu ,&nbsp;Lianheng Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133120","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133120","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Green-Ampt model is widely used in rainfall infiltration analysis of unsaturated soil where fewer parameters are involved. However, the slope surface water is assumed to be constant, and the area above the wetting front is saturated. This has its limitations. In this paper, an improved Green-Ampt model is proposed based on fractal theory considering soil pore characteristics. In the proposed model, the infiltration transition zone is included, the real-time dynamic change of the slope infiltration rate is determined through the runoff-seepage coupling to obtain infiltration profile model at different times. Compared with the existing theoretical results and data from ponded infiltration column tests, the model presented in this paper can accurately calculate the cumulative infiltration of the soil and surface runoff to verify the model’s validity. A set of parametric analyses are conducted to study effect of seepage in unsaturated soil. The results show that The soil’s pore distribution affects the slope’s infiltration profile and the timing of surface runoff generation. The depth of the infiltration zone increases with the increase of the saturated hydraulic conductivity and the soil particle pore size, while it decreases with the increase of the slope angle. At the same time, the runoff-seepage coupling effect cannot be ignored; the generation of surface runoff is delayed with the increase of the slope angle, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and soil particle pore size, which further affects the infiltration rate of the soil. The improved model can effectively analyze the influence of soil pore characteristics on infiltration and is suitable for different soils, especially for silty clay and silty soil.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 133120"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143716322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing hourly streamflow simulation in karst basins: Development of the modified DK-XAJ-EW hydrological model integrating epikarst water storage function dynamics","authors":"Wenzhe Yang ,&nbsp;Lihua Chen ,&nbsp;Wenju Huang ,&nbsp;Yan Qian ,&nbsp;Wenming Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133170","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133170","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The water storage function of the epikarst plays a critical role in influencing the precipitation-streamflow response in karst basins; however, this dynamic is often inadequately represented by a single saturation excess runoff generation mechanism. To effectively capture the spatial heterogeneity of the epikarst’s water storage capacity and its temporal dynamics in redistributing runoff, we developed a reservoir model module. This module performs storage calculations for runoff derived from the saturation excess mechanism, employing an exponential equation to represent the spatial variability of epikarst water storage. By integrating this module with the runoff generation and separation modules of the DK-XAJ model, we quantitatively describe both the vertical and lateral runoff processes within the epikarst, accounting for their temporal evolution driven by spatial heterogeneity, resulting in the modified DK-XAJ-EW model. RSA analysis shows that epikarst reservoir parameters enhance hydrological simulations across various objective functions. The DK-XAJ-EW model outperforms the DK-XAJ model in simulating hourly streamflow and flood events, with improvements in NSE, KGE, R², and RRE values of 0.12, 0.12, 0.12, and 1.05%, respectively. It more accurately simulates surface runoff, interflow, rapid-conduit runoff, and slow-matrix runoff, improving flood event simulations with rapid and slow rise-recession patterns. The average absolute RPE decreased from 13.3% to 6.4% for rapid events and from 19.2% to 6.7% for slow events, while the average absolute PTE decreased from 2 hours to 0.5 hours for rapid events and from 7.5 hours to 3 hours for slow events, highlighting the importance of epikarst water storage in modelling precipitation-streamflow dynamics. The results indicate that the DK-XAJ-EW model provides important insights for refining hydrological predictions in karst basins and has considerable potential for enhancing the accuracy of flood forecasting in these complex environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"658 ","pages":"Article 133170"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143738861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantifying basin water balance considering water-economic society-ecology nexus","authors":"Qingsong Wu ,&nbsp;Qiting Zuo ,&nbsp;Lekai Zhang ,&nbsp;Yihu Ji ,&nbsp;Zhizhuo Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133067","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133067","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study proposes a set of methods for quantifying Basin water balance (BWB) in the context of the Water-Economic society-Ecology nexus. Firstly, a theoretical analysis of BWB is conducted, identifying three key aspects that should be considered: Water budget balance (WBB), Water supply–demand balance of economic society (ESWSDB), and Water use balance between economic society and ecology (EEWUB). Secondly, a distributed human-water relationship simulation model was developed, which aligns with the dual water cycle processes of nature and society. Thirdly, targeted methods for various aspects of BWB, along with a comprehensive approach for quantifying BWB, are proposed. Finally, the Qin River Basin in China was selected for a case study covering the period from 2001 to 2022, revealing the state and characteristics of BWB across multiple scales, levels, and dimensions. Results show that: a) during the study period, the WBB of the basin was generally in a slight imbalance state, characterized by decreasing water storage, with the imbalance deteriorating progressively from upstream to downstream; b) the average balance index of ESWSDB is 0.161, indicating an overall trend towards water surplus, but with significant differences in balance state and index across different basin zones; c) the average balance index of EEWUB was −0.168, indicating a slight water deficit on the ecological side, with river runoff during average and low-flow years being insufficient to simultaneously meet both economic-social and ecological water needs; d) overall, the BWB state still has room for improvement and is largely influenced by the WBB and ESWSDB during periods of poor balance state. Findings can enhance the understanding of BWB and offer valuable insights for global water balance quantification, contributing to the management of human-water relationship.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 133067"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fractional derivatives in advection-dispersion equations: A comparative study","authors":"Amit Kumar Pandey","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fractional derivatives capture the heterogeneity of aquifer mediums better than ordinary derivatives; however, due to the global nonacceptance of any general definition, their perfect applications are still questionable. As an effective alternative to the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative (R-L FD), the present work modeled the fractional advection–dispersion equation (FADE) for spatially varying transport parameters by employing the conformable fractional derivative (CFD) and improved Riemann-Liouville-type conformable fractional derivative (IR-L CFD). In the proposed model, the first order spatial, time derivatives are replaced with the CFD, the IR-L CFD of order <span><math><mrow><mn>0</mn><mo>&lt;</mo><mi>δ</mi><mo>⩽</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></math></span>. Also, <span><math><mrow><mi>D</mi><mo>∝</mo><msup><mi>v</mi><mi>n</mi></msup><mo>;</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>⩽</mo><mi>n</mi><mo>⩽</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></math></span> (<span><math><mi>D</mi></math></span>-dispersion, <span><math><mi>v</mi></math></span>-seepage velocity) is considered for capturing the maximum possible orders of the medium heterogeneity. The FADE is solved by homotopy analysis method (HAM) in the presence of spatially increasing non-linear source of contamination. Initially, the groundwater is considered uniformly polluted.</div><div>The performances of the IR-L CFD and CFD are compared using experimental data available in the literature; the findings demonstrate that both CFD and IRLCFD may be used successfully to estimate the fate of pollutants in heterogeneous media; however, the IR-L CFD approximates the R-L FD more accurately than the CFD. Also, the accuracy of the results yielded by the FADE involving the CFD and the IR-L CFD notably relies on the nature of the solute transport parameters. The obtained solutions can be used to verify numerical solutions. The presented model can get solutions of FADEs with rigorous transport conditions that are not solvable otherwise.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 133010"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143716319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unraveling the water quality-ecosystem nexus using Kalman filter-driven models and feature analysis under uncertainty","authors":"Mojtaba Poursaeid","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133092","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133092","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many factors impact water quality (WQ), such as climate change and population growth. Thus, the present work aims to propose an accurate and potent solution for the WQ instabilities challenge in the South Platte River in United States. The data driven model based on the machine learning model tuned with Kalman filter (KF) was considered to reduce input data noise. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm were used to analyze the importance of features and select the best inputs. The US Geological Survey (USGS) archive provided the primary database related to 2023–2024, with over 38,000 samples. The random forest (RF) was combined with KF and LASSO to reduce noise and analyze the importance of features due to the high number of samples. Artificial neural network (ANN), linear regression (LR), and support vector machine (SVM) were developed to compare the accuracy of the proposed model. The proposed model had the highest coefficient of determination values, which were between 0.95 and 0.99. Modeling the indicators revealed that some WQ variations could negatively affect aquatic ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 133092"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing daily runoff prediction: A hybrid model combining GR6J-CemaNeige with wavelet-based gradient boosting technique","authors":"Babak Mohammadi ,&nbsp;Mingjie Chen ,&nbsp;Mohammad Reza Nikoo ,&nbsp;Ali Al-Maktoumi ,&nbsp;Yang Yu ,&nbsp;Ruide Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133114","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133114","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hydrological modeling is essential for understanding and managing water resources, predicting flood events, and assessing the impacts of climate change on hydrological cycles. Previous research has shown the potential of machine learning (ML) models in hydrological modeling, but there remains a gap in effectively integrating these models with specific hydrological processes. This study addresses the challenges of runoff simulation in cold regions by systematically integrating Gradient Boosting Model (GBM) models with a hydrological process-based model (namely Génie Rural à 6 paramètres Journalier (GR6J) model coupled with CemaNeige snow module (GR6J-CemaNeige)) to improve hydrological modeling approaches. Four various schemes were examined for combining GBM with GR6J-CemaNeige, including production store combinations, unit hydrograph combinations, routing store concepts, and snowmelt and snowpack combinations. The GR6J-CemaNeige model achieved a Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE) of 0.775 and a Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.686 in the test sections, establishing a process-based baseline model for runoff simulation. The production store combinations yielded KGE values ranging from 0.722 to 0.745 and NSE from 0.601 to 0.614, while unit hydrograph combinations achieved KGE values of 0.8 and 0.804 and NSE values 0.702 and 0.705 during the test sections. The routing store combinations presented promising results with KGE values ranging from 0.805 to 0.822 and NSE values ranging from 0.71 to 0.734 for the test sections. Notably, the snowmelt and snowpack combinations achieved KGEs ranging from 0.743 to 0.759 and NSEs ranging from 0.641 to 0.666 during the test sections. The application of signal processing techniques, specifically Maximal Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform (MWT) and Multiresolution Analysis (MRA), further improved runoff simulation accuracy across various hydrological components. The best MWT results were derived from the unit hydrograph scenario (MWT-GBM7), achieving a KGE of 0.881 and a NSE of 0.816 in the test section, demonstrating the technique’s effectiveness in capturing complex snow-related processes. For MRA, the routing store scenario (MRA-GBM9) produced the best results with a KGE of 0.881 and a NSE of 0.788 in the test section, highlighting the method’s capability to enhance the representation of runoff timing and distribution. The consistent improvement across different hydrological components suggests that the hybrid approach successfully captures complex interactions within the watershed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 133114"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Winter water quality modelling under ice-affected conditions in rivers and lakes: A comprehensive review","authors":"Ge Yang,&nbsp;Julia Blackburn,&nbsp;Yuntong She,&nbsp;Wenming Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133083","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133083","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Numerical models are important tools for studying and predicting water quality in aquatic environments. Although there are many water quality models that are available (both freely and commercially), very few have capabilities to consider the effects of an ice cover in the simulation of water quality conditions in winter. This paper provides a comprehensive review of water quality models used to study winter water quality in rivers and lakes, focusing on their capabilities to simulate ice and how the ice interacts with the aquatic environment. Seven models are reviewed: CE-QUAL-W2, WASP, EFDC/EFDC+, MIKE HYDRO River, TELEMAC-MASCARET, ELCOM-CAEDYM/AEM3D, and HEC-RAS. The paper also reviews the modelling studies on seasonally ice-affected water bodies worldwide based on some of these models, coupled models, and other study-specific models. This review highlights the challenges associated with water quality modelling in ice-affected rivers and lakes, due to both model limitations and a scarcity of winter water quality data. The review also underscores the need for the collection of water quality data with equal emphasis on winter data, as this is not only necessary for accurate calibration of models during ice-affected periods, but also for developing a better understanding of how ice affects water quality and vice versa. This will allow important interactions between water quality and ice to be identified and integrated into models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 133083"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping groundwater-related flooding in urban coastal regions","authors":"Montana Marshall ,&nbsp;Emmanuel Dubois ,&nbsp;Saleck Moulaye Ahmed Cherif ,&nbsp;Candice Dubath ,&nbsp;Wague Oumarou ,&nbsp;Grégoire Mariéthoz ,&nbsp;Paolo Perona","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132907","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132907","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coastal urban environments are facing an increasing risk of flooding from both surface water and groundwater due to globally elevated water levels, causing substantial socio-economic damages, threatening livelihoods, and hindering economic development. To date, assessing the risk of groundwater-related flooding has primarily relied on groundwater modeling and analytical solutions, but these approaches face the challenge of limited groundwater observations. In this context, spatio-temporal mapping of groundwater-related flooding in urban environments using satellite imagery offers a promising option to augment limited groundwater field measurements. However, the ability of satellite imagery to capture the dynamics of groundwater fluctuations, which can induce saturation excess flooding, has not been assessed previously. This study is the first to compare flood detection estimates derived from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery with those obtained by analyzing the difference between topography and the piezometric surface, using in-situ groundwater level measurements. This research uses the coastal city of Nouakchott, Mauritania as a case study, and covers the period from 2015 to 2023. The satellite images were processed to map flooded areas using a supervised classification (random forest algorithm) and water detection spectral indices (MNDWI and NDPI). The novelty of this study lies in the successful mapping of flooding in a data-scarce coastal urban environment. For the first time, this study demonstrated that satellite imagery, combined with machine learning methods, effectively captures the spatio-temporal dynamics of groundwater-related flooding and complements low-frequency in-situ groundwater level measurements. Results showed that flooded area peaked during the wet season (July to September) due to rainfall infiltration, and continuously decreased during the rest of the year. This work also demonstrated that mapping groundwater-related flooding based on groundwater level measurements may lack the resolution necessary to detect smaller flooded areas in complex urban environments, while the supervised classification produced more nuanced flooding estimates, both in space and in time. These results have promising applications for a wide range of projects linked to the characterization, modeling, and forecasting of groundwater-related flooding in urban coastal environments. In turn, this approach can directly benefit local stakeholders for developing hazard maps and, more broadly, for planning risk management strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 132907"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydrogeochemical evolution of a semiarid endorheic basin, with intense agricultural and livestock activities","authors":"Jose Roberto Florez-Peñaloza ,&nbsp;Jürgen Mahlknecht ,&nbsp;Oscar Escolero† ,&nbsp;Eric Morales-Casique ,&nbsp;Juan Camilo Montaño-Caro ,&nbsp;Sandra Blanco-Gaona ,&nbsp;Raúl A. Silva-Aguilera","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133093","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133093","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water resources in semi-arid endorheic basins are increasingly at risk due to human activities that significantly alter natural systems. The Comarca Lagunera Region (CLR) in northern Mexico exemplifies this issue, where extensive groundwater extraction for agriculture and rapid urbanization have led to a continuous decline in the water table and deteriorating water quality. Recent studies emphasize the urgent need to address groundwater pollution in the region. This study aims to characterize the physical and chemical properties of groundwater and assess the factors and processes influencing groundwater chemistry. Using a hydrogeochemical framework, mixing rates were quantified through endmember mixing analysis, and inverse hydrogeochemical models were developed to explain groundwater evolution. The results likely suggest four primary groundwater flow systems − local, local-sulfated, intermediate, and regional − with a predominant Na-SO₄ type, followed by Ca-HCO₃-SO₄ type. Five endmembers were identified, including contributions from the Nazas River, which supplied 7–44 % of pumped groundwater in wells within irrigation district DR017, correlating with elevated NO₃⁻ concentrations. Inverse hydrogeochemical modeling revealed distinct flow paths and quantified key geochemical processes. Carbonate, gypsum, pyrite and albite dissolution/precipitation played a crucial role in the local and intermediate flows, while halite and gypsum dissolution predominated in regional flow. Ion exchange reactions influenced hydrochemical changes across all flow compartments. Regional mass transfer analysis indicated that the principal ions were SO₄²⁻ (8.0–17.5 mmol/l), Na⁺ (3.2 to 50.0 mmol/l), Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ (4.2 – 8.1 mmol/l), and NO₃⁻ (0.0 – 3.9 mmol/l). The findings have significant implications for groundwater management in the CLR and similar semi-arid endorheic basins. By understanding the complex interactions between natural processes and anthropogenic influences, this research provides critical insights into groundwater evolution. The results can be used to propose strategies to mitigate groundwater pollution, enhance water resource management, and promote sustainable agricultural practices in groundwater-dependent regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hydrology","volume":"657 ","pages":"Article 133093"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}