Quantification of water exchange between a hill reservoir and groundwater using hydrological and isotopic modelling (El Gouazine, Tunisia)

Stable isotope compositions (18O and 2H), determined for underground and surface waters from the watershed of a hill reservoir and downstream from the reservoir, suggest that (i) the reservoir water, which is more or less evaporated, represents a mixture between surface waters (rainfall, runoff) and the upstream alluvial groundwater meteoric in origin; (ii) the downstream alluvial groundwater have a stable isotope composition of a previously infiltrated reservoir water. The 18O isotope enrichment modelling of the mixed reservoir water shows that an input flux of 50 m3 day−1 is balanced by an output flux of 300 m3 day−1 when the reservoir water level is above 4.5 m, and by an output flux of 170 m3 day−1 when water levels are lower. The contribution of hill reservoirs to local groundwater movements must be considered in any regional scale hydrological investigations of areas that contain hill reservoirs. To cite this article: O. Grünberger et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).