Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives

The water resources of the atolls of the Republic of the Maldives are under continual threat from climatic and anthropogenic stresses, such as changing rainfall patterns, sea-level rise, and contamination from human activities and climatic events. Groundwater, a historically important resource of th...

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Main Authors:	Bailey, Ryan T., Khalil, Abedalrazq, Chatikavanij, Vansa
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	en_US
Published:	Elsevier 2016
Subjects:	groundwater climate variability island hydrology numerical modeling
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24279

id	okr-10986-24279
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-242792021-04-23T14:04:21Z Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives Bailey, Ryan T. Khalil, Abedalrazq Chatikavanij, Vansa groundwater climate variability island hydrology numerical modeling The water resources of the atolls of the Republic of the Maldives are under continual threat from climatic and anthropogenic stresses, such as changing rainfall patterns, sea-level rise, and contamination from human activities and climatic events. Groundwater, a historically important resource of the island communities of the Maldives, is particularly affected due to the fragile nature of the freshwater lens on small atoll islands. In this study the dynamics of the freshwater lens are simulated during an extended (1998–2011) time period to determine the fluctuation of lens thickness of islands of the Maldives in response to annual and long-term changes in rainfall. Particularly, maximum and minimum lens thickness during the simulation period are assessed, as well as the occurrence of general trends, either decreasing or increasing, in lens thickness. Simulations are performed for a variety of island sizes, corresponding to the range of sizes of the islands of the Maldives, and for the various climatic regions of the Maldives. Results indicate that many of the atoll islands are expected to have a measurable freshwater lens during the majority of a long-term climatic period, although significant decreases in thickness can occur during the months of the dry season, with complete depletion occurring for small islands. Of particular note is the observation of a general decrease in lens thickness, approximately 2–4 cm/yr, over the 14-year period for the northern regions of the Maldives. If continued at current rates, these trends can have a significant impact on groundwater resources for the Maldives. Results imply that fresh groundwater, if properly protected from land surface-derived contamination and over-pumping and associated salinization, can be a valuable source of water for the Maldives, particularly for the larger islands. Overall, results provide water resource managers and government officials with valuable data for consideration in water security measures. 2016-05-17T19:13:17Z 2016-05-17T19:13:17Z 2014-07 Journal Article Journal of Hydrology 0022-1794 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24279 en_US CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Elsevier Publications & Research :: Journal Article Publications & Research Maldives
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	en_US
topic	groundwater climate variability island hydrology numerical modeling
spellingShingle	groundwater climate variability island hydrology numerical modeling Bailey, Ryan T. Khalil, Abedalrazq Chatikavanij, Vansa Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives
geographic_facet	Maldives
description	The water resources of the atolls of the Republic of the Maldives are under continual threat from climatic and anthropogenic stresses, such as changing rainfall patterns, sea-level rise, and contamination from human activities and climatic events. Groundwater, a historically important resource of the island communities of the Maldives, is particularly affected due to the fragile nature of the freshwater lens on small atoll islands. In this study the dynamics of the freshwater lens are simulated during an extended (1998–2011) time period to determine the fluctuation of lens thickness of islands of the Maldives in response to annual and long-term changes in rainfall. Particularly, maximum and minimum lens thickness during the simulation period are assessed, as well as the occurrence of general trends, either decreasing or increasing, in lens thickness. Simulations are performed for a variety of island sizes, corresponding to the range of sizes of the islands of the Maldives, and for the various climatic regions of the Maldives. Results indicate that many of the atoll islands are expected to have a measurable freshwater lens during the majority of a long-term climatic period, although significant decreases in thickness can occur during the months of the dry season, with complete depletion occurring for small islands. Of particular note is the observation of a general decrease in lens thickness, approximately 2–4 cm/yr, over the 14-year period for the northern regions of the Maldives. If continued at current rates, these trends can have a significant impact on groundwater resources for the Maldives. Results imply that fresh groundwater, if properly protected from land surface-derived contamination and over-pumping and associated salinization, can be a valuable source of water for the Maldives, particularly for the larger islands. Overall, results provide water resource managers and government officials with valuable data for consideration in water security measures.
format	Journal Article
author	Bailey, Ryan T. Khalil, Abedalrazq Chatikavanij, Vansa
author_facet	Bailey, Ryan T. Khalil, Abedalrazq Chatikavanij, Vansa
author_sort	Bailey, Ryan T.
title	Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives
title_short	Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives
title_full	Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives
title_fullStr	Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives
title_full_unstemmed	Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives
title_sort	estimating transient freshwater lens dynamics for atoll islands of the maldives
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2016
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24279
_version_	1764456311318118400

Estimating Transient Freshwater Lens Dynamics for Atoll Islands of the Maldives

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