Application of a soil-water-balance model to estimate annual groundwater recharge for Long Island, New York, 1900–2019
A soil-water-balance (SWB) model was developed for Long Island, New York, to estimate the potential amount of annual groundwater recharge to the Long Island aquifer system from 1900 to 2019. The SWB model program is a computer code based on a modified Thornthwaite-Mather SWB approach and uses spatially and temporally distributed meteorological, land-cover, and soil properties as input to compute potential daily groundwater recharge. Simulated outputs indicate that island-wide potential groundwater recharge trends, as a percentage of precipitation, have increased approximately 3 percent during the 120-year period. The simulated results account for both climatic and land-cover changes that have occurred during the period. A change from undeveloped (forested land cover) to low- and medium-density residential land cover or land use increased potential groundwater recharge because of a decrease in evapotranspiration. During the 30-year period from 1900 to 1930, the simulated potential average groundwater recharge rate on Long Island was estimated to be 18.50 inches per year (in/yr), or a total of 1,243 million gallons per day, during the 30-year period from 1985 to 2015, the simulated potential average groundwater recharge rate estimate increased to 20.73 in/yr (a total of around 1,393 million gallons per day).
During the 1900–2019 simulation period, the potential average annual groundwater recharge rate was about 19.24 in/yr. The data for that period included values for a 3-year meteorological drought from 1963 to 1965, where the mean precipitation was about 26.5 percent lower than the long-term average of 46.7 in/yr, and the potential groundwater recharge rate was about 12.3 in/yr. During a 3-year wet period from 1982 to 1984, where mean precipitation was about 19.6 percent higher than the long-term average, the estimated potential groundwater recharge rate was about 26.8 in/yr.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Title | Application of a soil-water-balance model to estimate annual groundwater recharge for Long Island, New York, 1900–2019 |
| DOI | 10.3133/sir20215143 |
| Authors | Jason S. Finkelstein, Jack Monti, John P. Masterson, Donald A. Walter |
| Publication Type | Report |
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Series Title | Scientific Investigations Report |
| Series Number | 2021-5143 |
| Index ID | sir20215143 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | New York Water Science Center |
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Soil-water-balance groundwater recharge model results for Long Island, NY, 1900-2019
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Soil-water-balance groundwater recharge model results for Long Island, NY, 1900-2019
This data release contains the output from a Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model (Westenbroek and others, 2010), used to estimate potential recharge to the Long Island regional aquifer system from 1900-2019. Output data for two SWB simulations are included. The first simulation uses available land-use/land-cover datasets to estimate recharge with changing land use from 1900-2019 (referred to as the posSoil-water-balance model archive for Long Island, NY, 1900-2019
This model archive makes available the Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model (Westenbroek and others, 2010) and input data used to estimate the potential amount of annual groundwater recharge to the Long Island aquifer system from 1900 to 2019 as described in U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5143. Input data for two SWB simulations are included in the archive. The first simula - Connect