Quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in Hungary amidst climate change concerns

Study region: Lake Velence. Study focus: Soda lakes are extreme habitats whose special hydrochemical characteristics can partly be explained by groundwater inflow. The relationship between groundwater and Lake Velence has never been properly investigated. A significant decrease in the lake’s level i...

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Main Authors: Petra Baják, András Csepregi, Péter Szabó, Máté Chappon, Ádám Tóth, Katalin Hegedűs-Csondor, Anita Erőss
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581824003100
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author Petra Baják
András Csepregi
Péter Szabó
Máté Chappon
Ádám Tóth
Katalin Hegedűs-Csondor
Anita Erőss
author_facet Petra Baják
András Csepregi
Péter Szabó
Máté Chappon
Ádám Tóth
Katalin Hegedűs-Csondor
Anita Erőss
author_sort Petra Baják
collection DOAJ
description Study region: Lake Velence. Study focus: Soda lakes are extreme habitats whose special hydrochemical characteristics can partly be explained by groundwater inflow. The relationship between groundwater and Lake Velence has never been properly investigated. A significant decrease in the lake’s level in recent years urged an evaluation of the components of the lake’s water budget, including groundwater as well. A 3D transient numerical groundwater flow simulation, using Visual MODFLOW, was performed between 1990 and 2021 to evaluate the lake’s relationship with groundwater and quantify the groundwater discharge into the lake. To assess future lake level changes until 2050, six lake level simulations were run based on three different regional climate models and two global warming scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5). New hydrological insights for the region: Our results showed that groundwater inflow accounts for up to 12 % of the total annual inflow into Lake Velence. It has been numerically shown that precipitation and evaporation are the primary drivers of lake level changes, meaning that the variation of these two parameters will impact the lake’s future. As for the future lake level changes, the RCP2.6 scenario resulted in an increase of 11 cm, while the RCP8.5 scenario led to a decrease of 30 cm compared to the observed annual average lake level until 2050. Our results emphasize the importance of integrating soda lakes into topography-driven groundwater flow systems to develop climate change adaptation strategies.
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spelling doaj-art-b8f06e45d24246eb964a461fa10f04a82025-08-20T02:30:51ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182024-12-015610196110.1016/j.ejrh.2024.101961Quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in Hungary amidst climate change concernsPetra Baják0András Csepregi1Péter Szabó2Máté Chappon3Ádám Tóth4Katalin Hegedűs-Csondor5Anita Erőss6ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Geology, József and Erzsébet Tóth Endowed Hydrogeology Chair and Foundation, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest 1117, Hungary; Corresponding author.Hydrosys Ltd., Mester utca 34, Budapest 1095, HungaryELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Meteorology, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, Budapest 1117, HungaryNational Laboratory for Water Science and Water Security, Széchenyi István University, Department of Transport Infrastructure and Water Resources Engineering, Egyetem tér 1, Győr H-9026, HungaryUtrecht University, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Vening Meineszgebouw A, Princetonlaan 8a, Utrecht 3584 CB, the NetherlandsELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Geology, József and Erzsébet Tóth Endowed Hydrogeology Chair and Foundation, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest 1117, HungaryELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Geology, József and Erzsébet Tóth Endowed Hydrogeology Chair and Foundation, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest 1117, HungaryStudy region: Lake Velence. Study focus: Soda lakes are extreme habitats whose special hydrochemical characteristics can partly be explained by groundwater inflow. The relationship between groundwater and Lake Velence has never been properly investigated. A significant decrease in the lake’s level in recent years urged an evaluation of the components of the lake’s water budget, including groundwater as well. A 3D transient numerical groundwater flow simulation, using Visual MODFLOW, was performed between 1990 and 2021 to evaluate the lake’s relationship with groundwater and quantify the groundwater discharge into the lake. To assess future lake level changes until 2050, six lake level simulations were run based on three different regional climate models and two global warming scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5). New hydrological insights for the region: Our results showed that groundwater inflow accounts for up to 12 % of the total annual inflow into Lake Velence. It has been numerically shown that precipitation and evaporation are the primary drivers of lake level changes, meaning that the variation of these two parameters will impact the lake’s future. As for the future lake level changes, the RCP2.6 scenario resulted in an increase of 11 cm, while the RCP8.5 scenario led to a decrease of 30 cm compared to the observed annual average lake level until 2050. Our results emphasize the importance of integrating soda lakes into topography-driven groundwater flow systems to develop climate change adaptation strategies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581824003100Surface water–groundwater interactionLake level projectionTopography-driven groundwater flow systemsVisual MODFLOWRegional climate models
spellingShingle Petra Baják
András Csepregi
Péter Szabó
Máté Chappon
Ádám Tóth
Katalin Hegedűs-Csondor
Anita Erőss
Quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in Hungary amidst climate change concerns
Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Surface water–groundwater interaction
Lake level projection
Topography-driven groundwater flow systems
Visual MODFLOW
Regional climate models
title Quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in Hungary amidst climate change concerns
title_full Quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in Hungary amidst climate change concerns
title_fullStr Quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in Hungary amidst climate change concerns
title_full_unstemmed Quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in Hungary amidst climate change concerns
title_short Quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in Hungary amidst climate change concerns
title_sort quantifying the overlooked groundwater component in the water budget of a shallow soda lake in hungary amidst climate change concerns
topic Surface water–groundwater interaction
Lake level projection
Topography-driven groundwater flow systems
Visual MODFLOW
Regional climate models
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581824003100
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