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The correct characterization of aquifer parameters is essential for water-supply and water-quality investigations. Slug tests are widely used for these purposes. While free software is available to interpret slug tests, some codes are not user-friendly, or do not include a wide range of methods to interpret the results, or do not include automatic, inverse solutions to the test data. The private sector has also generated several good programs to interpret slug test data, but they are not free of charge. The computer program SlugIn 1.0 is available online for free download, and is demonstrated to aid in the analysis of slug tests to estimate hydraulic parameters. The program provides an easy-to-use Graphical User Interface. SlugIn 1.0 incorporates automated parameter estimation and facilitates the visualization of several interpretations of the same test. It incorporates solutions for confined and unconfined aquifers, partially penetrating wells, skin effects, shape factor, anisotropy, high hydraulic conductivity formations and the Mace test for large-diameter wells. It is available in English and Spanish and can be downloaded from the web site of the Geological Survey of Spain. Two field examples are presented to illustrate how the software operates., (© 2018, National Ground Water Association.)

Medina playa lake, a Ramsar site in western Andalusia, is a brackish lowland lake of 120 ha with an average depth of 1 m. Water flows into Medina from its 1,748-ha watershed, but the hydrology of the lake has not previously been studied. This paper describes the application of a water budget model on a monthly scale over a 6-year period, based on a conceptual hydrological model, and considers different future scenarios after calibration to improve the understanding of the lake's hydrological functioning. Climatic variables from a nearby weather station and observational data (water-level evolution) were used to develop the model. Comparison of measured and predicted values demonstrated that each model component provided a reasonable output with a realistic interaction among the components. The model was then used to explore the potential consequences of land-use changes. Irrigation of olive groves would significantly reduce both the hydroperiod (becoming dry 15% of the time) and the average depth of the lake (water level <0.5 m 40% of the time). On the other hand, removal of an artificial overflow would double the average flooded surface area during high-water periods. The simulated water balance demonstrates that the catchment outputs are dominated by lake evaporation and surface outflow from the lake system to a creek. Discrepancies between predicted and observed water levels identify key areas of uncertainty for future empirical research. The study provides an improved basis for future hydrological management of the catchment and demonstrates the wider utility of this methodology in simulating this kind of system. This methodology provides a realistic appraisal of potential land-use management practices on a catchment-wide scale and allows predictions of the consequences of climate change.

• A cequias de careo constitute the oldest managed aquifer recharge system of Europe. • In Middle Ages, Muslims derived meltwater and recharged it through uncoated channels. • The managed aquifer recharge technique helped ensure water availability downstream. • This case study illustrates a paradigm that should be used in future water crises. • This MAR technique may prove key for adaptation to climate change in Alpine regions. In Sierra Nevada (southern Spain), the highest mountain range in southern Europe, the application of an ancestral Integrated Water Resources Management system (IWRM), based on the conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water, provides water resources for irrigation and supply in the driest months of the year in this semiarid mountain region. Meltwater is derived from the headwaters of the mountain streams and rivers through a set of uncoated channels excavated in the ground (locally known as acequias de careo) to infiltrate at the upper part of the valleys. Water infiltrated along the acequias de careo slowly flows down the hillsides, through the weathered zone of the hard rock aquifer and the glacial and periglacial sediments. The recharge accomplished through this Managed Aquifer Recharge technique (MAR) activates numerous springs located halfway down the hillside and increases the base flow of the rivers. In this study, focused on a careo channel located on the southern slope of Sierra Nevada called Acequia de El Espino, different archaeological, sedimentological, geophysical and hydrogeological techniques are applied to determine the age and the efficiency of this ancestral example of a MAR and IWRM system. Results suggest that the acequias de careo may be the oldest MAR system in Europe, and that this MAR technique could be applied in other high mountain alpine watersheds to mitigate the effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing water resources in high mountain semi-arid zones is essential to be able to manage and plan the use of these resources downstream where they are used. However, it is not easy to manage an unknown resource, a situation that is common in the vast majority of high mountain hydrological basins. In the present work, the discharge flow in an ungauged basin is estimated using the hydrological parameters of an HBV (Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning) model calibrated in a “neighboring gauged basin”. The results of the hydrological simulation obtained in terms of average annual discharge are validated using the VI-ETo model. This model relates a simple hydrological balance to the discharge of the basin with the evaporation of the vegetal cover of the soil, and this to the SAVI index, which is obtained remotely by means of satellite images. The results of the modeling for both basins underscore the role of the underground discharge in the total discharge of the hydrological system. This is the result of the deglaciation process suffered by the high mountain areas of the Mediterranean arc. This process increases the infiltration capacity of the terrain, the recharge and therefore the discharge of the aquifers that make up the glacial and periglacial sediments that remain exposed on the surface as witnesses of what was the last glaciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]