Stream-Groundwater Interactions
Interactions between surface waters and groundwater can be extremely important ecologically, especially in semiarid environments.  Groundwater seepage into or out of stream channels can produce major changes in surface flow.  Seepage from losing streams into adjacent alluvial maintains riparian vegetation in semiarid regions whose streams are fed by runoff from wetter, higher elevation source areas.  Seepage into streams during the months following seasonal high flows helps to maintain baseflow during periods of critical importance for many aquatic organisms.  Short-term seepage into and from alluvial banks during floods (bank storage) can significantly attenuate flood peaks.  Downwelling of stream water into streambed gravels (and upwelling of groundwater through gravels) has been identified as one of the most important factors influencing the choice of spawning sites by salmon and trout.  Infiltration of polluted surface water into recharge areas can pollute groundwater, as has happened with nitrates in most agricultural regions of California.  The nature of surface-groundwater interactions must be understood in order to predict the potential consequences of reducing flow releases from dams or diversions, and of nonpoint source pollution on the surface.
 

SELECTED RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS

Kondolf, G.M. 1995. Surface-groundwater interactions: Some implications for sustainability of groundwater resources. In Proceedings of the 19th Biennial Groundwater Conference, Sacramento, California (pp.133-142). Water Resources Center Report No. 84, University of California, Davis.

Kondolf, G.M., and P. Vorster. 1993. Changing water balance over time in Rush Creek, eastern California, 1860-1992. Water Resources Bulletin 29:823-832.

Kondolf, G.M., and P. Vorster. 1992. Management implications of stream-groundwater interactions in the eastern Sierra Nevada. In History of Water, Eastern Sierra Nevada and White-Inyo Range (pp. 324-338). University of California White Mountain Research Station, Bishop, California.

Kondolf, G.M. 1992. Drought-year observations of baseflow in Cottonwood Basin, White Mountains, California. In History of Water, Eastern Sierra Nevada and White-Inyo Range (pp. 314-323). University of California White Mountain Research Station, Bishop, California.

Keller, E.A., and G.M. Kondolf. 1990. Groundwater and fluvial processes: Selected observations. Geological Society of America Special Paper 252:319-340.

Kondolf, G.M. 1989. Stream-groundwater interactions along streams of the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA: Implications for assessing potential impacts of flow diversions. In D. Abell (ed.) Proceedings of the California Riparian Systems Conference (pp. 352-359). USDA Forest Service General Technical Report, PSW-110.

Kondolf, G.M., L.M. Maloney, and J.G. Williams. 1987. Effect of bank storage, and well pumping on base flow, Carmel River, California. Journal of Hydrology 91:351-369.

Kondolf, G.M., J.W. Webb, M.J. Sale, and T. Felando. 1987. Basic hydrologic studies for assessing impacts of flow diversions on riparian vegetation: Examples from streams of the eastern Sierra Nevada, California. Environmental Management 11:757-769.

Kondolf, G.M., and R.R. Curry. 1986. Channel erosion along the Carmel River, Monterey County, California. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 11:307-319.
Runoff following intense rainfall, near Carneros, California  (Photo by Kondolf 1993)


Measuring water level in observation well adjacent to Rush Creek, California, 1987.