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October 9, 2023
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Article

Unintentional Recharge of Aquifers from Small Dams and Dykes in Spain: A GIS-Based Approach to Determine a Fractional Volume

Publicated to:Earth (Switzerland). 4 (3): 584-605 - 2023-09-01 4(3), DOI: 10.3390/earth4030031

Authors: Escalante, EF; Casas, JDH; Per, CMD; Vera, MDM; Valverde, CM

Affiliations

Grupo Tragsa - Author
Grupo Tragsa , Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Author
Tragsa IDi, Maldonado 58, Madrid 28006, Spain - Author
Tragsatec, Julian Camarillo 6b, Madrid 28037, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Agron Alimentaria & Biosis, Agroengn Dept, Ave Puerta Hierro 2-4, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Conducting an accurate hydrological water balance at the regional and country-wide scales is paramount to assessing available water resources and adequately allocating them. One of the main components of these balances is the anthropogenic recharge of groundwater either intentionally, through managed aquifer recharge (MAR), or unintentionally, where infiltration from dams and dykes can play a significant role. In Spain, proper management of water resources is critical due to the arid to semiarid conditions prevalent in most of the territory and the relevance of water resources for maintaining a robust agricultural sector. Previous work estimated country-wide recharge from MAR at 150 to 280 Mm3/year. Recently, water authorities pointed out that, according to hydrological water balances, the total unintentional recharge volume from water courses may exceed 500 Mm3/year. The present research aims to present a new inventory of transverse structures (also referred to as small dams and dykes) in Spain and use it to estimate country-wide unintentional recharge. The inventory, compiled by the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has 27,680 structures and includes construction and impoundment characteristics, which allow for estimating the wet perimeter and the infiltration area. To this end, structural data from the inventory were crossed through map algebra in a GIS environment with thematic layers, such as lithology, permeability, the digital elevation model, the transverse structures’ wetted area, the average groundwater levels, and a clogging correction factor. Two analytical formulas to compute infiltration from small dams and dykes were tested. The resulting volume of unintentional recharge from transverse structures ranges between 812.5 and 2716.6 Mm3/year. The comparison against regional and national water balances suggests that the lowest value of the range (i.e., 812.5 Mm3/year) is probably the most realistic. Anthropogenic recharge from MAR and transverse structures is likely in the range of 1012.5–1514.8 Mm3/year. This rough figure can help close the hydrological balance at the national and river basin levels and contribute to calibrating regional models. Furthermore, they provide an order of magnitude for anthropogenic recharge at a national scale, which is difficult to obtain.

Keywords

artificial rechargedykesindexinfiltrationspaintransverse damsunintentional rechargeArtificial rechargeDykesGroundwaterInfiltrationManaged aquifer rechargeSpainTransverse damsUnintentional recharge

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Earth (Switzerland) due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 127/254, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Geosciences, Multidisciplinary. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q2 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Earth and Planetary Sciences (Miscellaneous).

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-07-12:

  • Scopus: 1

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-12:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 13.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 43 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.5.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.