UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES, RAICHUR

College of Agricultural Engineering, Raichur

Department of Soil and Water Engineering
SEMINAR- II
on
Modelling a seawater intrusion in the coastal aquifer using SEAWAT

Name : Lalthangmawii (II M.Tech.) Date : 16-04-2022

ID No.: PG20AEG12131 SYNOPSIS Time : 10:00 am.

Seawater intrusion (SWI) is a worldwide problem, especially in coastal aquifers where fresh
groundwater resources are significantly threatened by saline water. This problem become more
serious due to the combined effect of climate change, sea-level rise, land use changes, population
growth and groundwater over-pumping through years. SWI occurs in coastal freshwater aquifers
when different densities of freshwater and saltwater allow saltwater to intrude into freshwater
aquifers that are in hydraulic continuity with seawater. SWI is a physically density-dependent
problem where two different equations need to be coupled: (i) groundwater flow equation and (ii)
solute (salt) transport equation (Vengadesan et al., 2019).
SEAWAT is a computer program for simulation of three-dimensional, variable-density,
transient ground-water flow in porous media. SEAWAT was designed by combining a modified
version of MODFLOW-2000 and MT3DMS into a single computer program. SEAWAT contains
all of the processes distributed with MODFLOW-2000 and also includes the Variable-Density Flow
Process (as an alternative to the constant-density Ground-Water Flow Process) and the Integrated
MT3DMS Transport Process.
Gopinath et al., (2019) studied the influence of water quality and saline water intrusion to
the coastal aquifers of Nagapattinam and Karaikka, Tamil Nadu using the combination of
geochemical method and SEAWAT. The dominance of ions like Na and Cl suggests saline water
intrusion and HCO3, Ca and SO4 suggest influence of rock water interaction and agricultural
influences irrespective of seasons. The density dependent flow model SEAWAT was used to
determine the status of the seawater intrusion in the aquifer and the model further predicted higher
inland saline water intrusion when calibrated for 50 years.
Shaghayegh et al., (2018) studied an integrated modeling approach by linking soil SWAT,
MODFLOW, and SEAWAT models were used to exhibit responses of groundwater systems, in
terms of flow and salt concentrations to current and future climatic and anthropogenic changes. The
estimated recharge rate from SWAT was utilized as an input in numerical groundwater model to
evaluate saltwater intrusion (SWI), changes in freshwater storage within the aquifer system, and
changes in groundwater level. The results showed that increase of pumping rate yield by future
population growth will have more adverse effects on the unconfined aquifer. The derived
information from this study can be used to improve future works by developing a better
understanding of the managed and unmanaged response of freshwater storage and unconfined
groundwater systems to climate change and anthropogenic activities.
Micòl et al., (2019) employed the SEAWAT model to simulate the seawater intrusion to
coastal aquifers of Variconi Oasis (Italy). The simulation was divided into a calibration and a
validation model, then the model was used to predict the salinization trend up to 2050. Results
show the role of the sea in salinizing the beach front, while the retrodunal environment is
characterized by transitional environments. Future seawater intrusion scenarios considering only
climate data showed no significative differences in respect to the actual situation. The same
happens considering also a low sea level rise prediction. On the contrary, the worst scenario (high
sea level rise prediction), depicts a quite different situation, with a saline intrusion in the Variconi
oasis that will severely affect the fragile transitional ecosystem.
Several research shows that the SEAWAT code can serve as an effective tool for simulating
variable-density flow and transport under complex geometries and geological settings. A three-
dimensional regional scale numerical model, properly calibrated with sufficient data, can provide a
powerful management tool for coastal aquifers

References:
Micòl Mastrocicco, Gianluigi Busico, Nicolò Colombani, Marco Vigliotti and Daniela Ruberti,
2019. Modelling Actual and Future Seawater Intrusion in the Variconi Coastal Wetland
(Italy) Due to Climate and Landscape Changes. Water, 11:1502-1517.
S. Gopinath, K. Srinivasamoorthy, K. Saravanan, R. Prakash & D. Karunanidhi, 2019,
Characterizing groundwater quality and seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers of
Nagapattinam and Karaikal, South India using hydrogeochemistry and modeling
techniques. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 25:314-334.
Shaghayegh Akbarpour & Mohammad Hossein Niksokhan, 2018, Investigating effects of climate
change, urbanization, and sea level changes on groundwater resources in a coastal aquifer:
an integrated assessment. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 190 : 579-586.
Vengadesan Manivannan & Lakshmanan Elango, 2019. Seawater intrusion and submarine
groundwater discharge along the Indian coast. Env. Sc. and Pollution Research,
26:31592–31608.

Major Advisor