DOI 10.1007/s00254-008-1504-9
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Received: 3 May 2008 / Accepted: 27 July 2008 / Published online: 12 August 2008
Ó Springer-Verlag 2008
Abstract Water resources in Taiwan are unevenly dis- Keywords Geographical information system
tributed in spatial and temporal domains. Effectively Groundwater recharge Chih-Pen Creek basin
utilizing the water resources is an imperative task due to
climate change. At present, groundwater contributes 34%
of the total annual water supply and is an important fresh Introduction
water resource. However, over-exploitation has decreased
groundwater availability and has led to land subsidence. Groundwater recharge refers to the entry of water from the
Assessing the potential zone of groundwater recharge is unsaturated zone into the saturated zone below the water
extremely important for the protection of water quality and table surface, together with the associated flow away from
the management of groundwater systems. The Chih-Pen the water table within the saturated zone (Freeze and
Creek basin in eastern Taiwan is examined in this study to Cherry 1979). Recharge occurs when water flows past the
assess its groundwater resources potential. Remote sensing groundwater level and infiltrates into the saturated zone. It
and the geographical information system (GIS) are used to is an extremely important water component of the circu-
integrate five contributing factors: lithology, land cover/ lation cycle in nature. Many factors affect the occurrence
land use, lineaments, drainage, and slope. The weights and movement of groundwater in a region including
of factors contributing to the groundwater recharge are topography, lithology, geological structures, depth of
derived using aerial photos, geology maps, a land use weathering, extent of fractures, primary porosity, second-
database, and field verification. The resultant map of the ary porosity, slope, drainage patterns, landform, land use/
groundwater potential zone demonstrates that the highest land cover, and climate (Mukherjee 1996; Jaiswal et al.
recharge potential area is located towards the downstream 2003). On-site hydrogeology experiments and geophysics
regions in the basin because of the high infiltration rates surveys help to explain the process of groundwater
caused by gravelly sand and agricultural land use in these recharge and evaluate the spatial–temporal difference in
regions. In contrast, the least effective recharge potential the study region. However, these surveys often focus on a
area is in upstream regions due to the low infiltration of single affecting factor or an indirect site-specific experi-
limestone. ment for groundwater recharge, reducing the reliability
of the explanation. Recently, remote sensing has been
increasingly employed to replace on-site exploration or
H.-F. Yeh C.-H. Lee K.-C. Hsu P.-H. Chang experiments. Remote sensing not only provides a wide-
Department of Resources Engineering,
range scale of the space–time distribution of observations,
National Cheng Kung University,
Tainan, Taiwan but also saves time and money (Murthy 2000; Leblanc
et al. 2003; Tweed et al. 2007). Sener et al. (2005) pointed
C.-H. Lee (&) K.-C. Hsu out that remote sensing can effectively identify the char-
Sustainable Environment Research Center,
acteristics of the surface of the earth (such as lineaments
National Cheng Kung University,
Tainan, Taiwan and geology) and can also be used to examine groundwa-
e-mail: leech@mail.ncku.edu.tw ter recharge. Bierwirth and Welsh (2000) applied remote
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sensing to determine the preferential path of groundwater temporally. Water shortage has recently become an
recharge in an area. important issue due to climate change. The government
The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA 1987) in needs to regulate the usage of water resources in order to
India was the first to integrate information from remote solve the problem of water shortages. The continuous
sensing and the technology of the geographical information development of the economy has led to an increase in water
system (GIS) for delineating the groundwater recharge consumption, and has consequently resulted in shortages of
potential zone. GIS is used to manage, utilize, and classify surface water. Therefore, the reliance on groundwater
the results of remote sensing, to explore sites, to combine resources has increased, leading to the over-consumption
the factors of groundwater recharge potential, and to pro- of groundwater, and causing ecological problems such as
vide appropriate weight relationships (Krishnamurthy et al. decreased groundwater levels, water exhaustion, water
1996; Saraf and Choudhury 1998; Sener et al. 2005). pollution, deterioration of water quality, and seawater
Salama et al. (1994) used aerial photos and information intrusion. These cause serious problems and threaten both
from a satellite to derive the lithology, topography, and people’s livelihoods and overall national development.
geological characteristics of the Salt River in Western Therefore, it is important to thoroughly understand the
Australia. These properties can be used to determine the groundwater resources of Taiwan in order to enhance the
mechanism of groundwater flow and the groundwater efficiency and performance of their planning, utilization,
recharge zone. Their analytical results demonstrate that the administration, and management. The government of Tai-
sandy plain is the major recharge zone. Edet et al. (1998) wan has invested significant labor and financial resources
classified groundwater recharge potential zones in south- to survey five main groundwater areas (Cho-Shui River
east Nigeria as high, medium, or low. They found alluvial fan, Pingtung Plain, Chia-Nan Plain, Lan-Yang
that linear features, drainage, lithology, temperature of Plain, and Hsin-Chu and Miaoli Region) to construct a
groundwater, vertical hydraulic conductivity, yield, and database of hydrogeology and groundwater. Additionally,
transmissivity closely control the recharge potential zones. groundwater monitoring stations have been established, but
Singh and Prakash (2002) plotted a groundwater recharge only on the western plain of Taiwan. Very limited infor-
potential map of a sub-watershed from the geology, line- mation, such as precipitation, river flux, hydro-geological
ament maps, drainage, slope, and the thickness of the soil properties, groundwater consumption, and groundwater
covered. Their results show that the well-yield data in India recharge, is available for the eastern mountain area of
is closely related to the groundwater recharge potential Taiwan. The assessment and planning of groundwater
zone. Jaiswal et al. (2003) concluded that there is a need to resources is particularly difficult for the mountain area of
adjust the information of satellites and GIS to agree with Taiwan.
the on-site geology, particularly in typical hard rock ter- Groundwater resources in the eastern mountainous
rain, where groundwater occurrence is complex and region of Taiwan are becoming increasingly insufficient
restricted. Shaban et al. (2006) explored the recharge due to economic development. The declining groundwater
potential map of the Occidental Lebanon, and found that level in the mountain area is an indication of the decrease
the regions of hard, fractured, and karstified limestone were in groundwater resources (Yeh et al. 2007). Therefore, this
excellent potential areas for groundwater recharge, while study uses the Chih-Pen Creek basin in eastern Taiwan as
the least effective recharge potential was in high-populated the study domain. The Chih-Pen Creek basin was selected
areas and in relatively flat areas covered by soft materials. because it is compact but important for eastern Taiwan.
The diffusion of pollutants in groundwater is fastest in the The groundwater recharge potential zones are assessed for
most efficient recharge zones. Tweed et al. (2007) verified the Chih-Pen Creek basin.
that the integration of remote sensing and GIS reduces the
uncertainty of hydro-geological data in terms of both
macroscopic (climate, change of land utilization) and Methodology
microscopic (preferential flow) factors. Their data can be
used to analyze groundwater numerical models or water Study approach
balance.
Groundwater is an important source of water for Remote sensing technology, such as aerial photos, was
industrial, agricultural, and domestic uses in Taiwan. Tai- used in the present study to identify the geological features,
wan is narrow, with a small area and a high-population topography, and distribution of the rivers in the region.
density. The elevation of the terrain of basins is great and Additionally, the Land Utilization Survey Database, geo-
steep, meaning that most precipitation becomes runoff and logic maps, and on-site investigation were adopted to
drains directly to the ocean very quickly. Water resources quantitatively and qualitatively describe the hydro-geo-
and water demand are unevenly distributed spatially and logical conditions of the area. The different polygons in the
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Environ Geol (2009) 58:185–195 187
thematic maps were labeled separately. The influence of Table 1 Factors influencing groundwater recharge classified criteria
the factors of groundwater recharge and the interaction Factor Basis of categorization
between the factors were examined. Weighting values were
assigned according to the on-site situation. The distribution Lithology Rock type, weathering character, joints, fractures
of the groundwater recharge potential zone was determined Land cover/land Type, areal extent, associated vegetation
by coordinating it with the space integrating function of the use
geographical information system (GIS). Figure 1 illustrates Lineaments Lineament-density value
the flowchart of this investigation. Drainage Drainage-density value
Slope Slope gradient
The Infrastructure of the Groundwater Recharge
Potential Model
lithology, land use/cover, lineaments, drainage, and slope
The groundwater recharge potential zone has been assessed as the five significant factors affecting groundwater
in many countries (Krishnamurthy et al. 1996; Saraf and recharge potential. The factors influencing groundwater
Choudhury 1998; Shahid et al. 2000; Jaiswal et al. 2003; recharge potential, which are listed in Table 1. GIS tech-
Sener et al. 2005; Shaban et al. 2006). However, the nology was used to digitize the hydrologic and geographic
groundwater recharge potential zone has not yet been information, and a fundamental database was constructed.
assessed in Taiwan, especially in mountain watersheds. In Appropriate scores were set for different factors. Finally,
this study, the weights of different factors for groundwater the spatial analysis function was used to demonstrate the
recharge potential and the score under various character- groundwater recharge potential zone of the research area.
istics were assessed based on the characteristics of the
Chih-Pen Creek basin. The factors influencing groundwater Establishment of groundwater recharge
recharge, and their relative importance, are compiled from potential-related factors
previous literature. Duplicate factors were combined and
only representative factors were extracted. This study uses Lithology
Land use/cover
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Drainage
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Environ Geol (2009) 58:185–195 189
Fig. 3 GIS technology used in spatial integration and analysis to Topography and geology
demarcate basin groundwater recharge potential zone
The Chih-Pen Creek basin can be divided into two topo-
Study area graphic units, namely the mountainous terrain and the
alluvial plain. The Chih-Pen Fault splits the basin into east
Geographical position and meteorological hydrology and west parts. The terrain in the west of the fault is pre-
cipitous and consists of metamorphic rock, covering part of
The study area, the Chih-Pen Creek basin, is in the the Central Mountain Range. The east area of the fault is
southeast of Taiwan. The basin encompasses an area of the Taitung alluvial fan-delta. Because the end of the
about 198.4 km2. The length of the river is about 39.3 km alluvial fan has already entered the coastline, the delta
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Fig. 5 Three-dimensional
topographic map of the
Chih-Pen Creek basin
plain gradually changes to an alluvial fan delta. The relief Table 2 Relative rates for each factor
declines by 70 m km-1 from east to west, which is faster
Factor Calculation process Proposed relative
than the north–south decline of about 30 m km-1. Figure 5 rates
shows the three-dimensional topographic map of the Chih-
Pen Creek basin. Lithology 3 9 1.0 = 3.0 3.0
Taiwan can be divided into three major geological Land cover/land 1 9 1.0 + 3 9 0.5 = 2.5 2.5
use
terrains, namely the Tananao Schist terrain, the slate for-
Lineaments 2 9 1.0 = 2.0 2.0
mation terrain, and the Neogene-Quaternary sedimentary
strata terrain (Yen 1970). The only rock stratum, the Chih- Drainage 1 9 1.0 + 1 9 0.5 = 1.5 1.5
Pen Formation, in the Chih-Pen Creek basin belongs to the Slope 1 9 1.0 + 1 9 0.5 = 1.5 1.5
slate formation terrain. In contrast to the other terrains, R10.5
which are composed of a variety of rock types, the slate
formation terrain has monotonous lithology. The rock types interrelationship between two factors is assigned a weight
in the Chih-Pen Formation are mainly slate with subordi- of 1.0. A minor interrelationship between two factors is
nate meta-sandstone. However, lithofacies was determined assigned a weight of 0.5. Finally, the total weight of each
from the interpretation of the deposits as a submarine-slope factor is the representing weight of the recharge potential.
sequence. Additionally, the area contains folds and cleav- For instance, major interrelationships exist for lithology on
age, indicating that the whole region is suffering very lineaments, drainage and, land use/cover. Therefore, its
strong compression (Lin and Lin 1998). evaluated weight is 3.0. This high weight value means
that the factor significantly influences the groundwater
recharge. Table 2 shows the process for determining the
Groundwater recharge potential factor relative rate of each factor.
establishment and spatial analysis The extent of the influence of every factor on ground-
water recharge was assessed from the interrelationships
Factor establishment among the factors (major and minor). Analytical results
demonstrate that the factors influencing the groundwater
This study analyzed the hydrologic and geographic attri- recharge potential of the Chih-Pen Creek basin, in
butes of the Chih-Pen Creek basin, and identified five descending order, are lithology, land use/cover, lineaments,
major factors influencing groundwater recharge potential, drainage, and slope. Lithology and land use/cover are the
namely lithology, land use/cover, lineaments, drainage, and major factors influencing the basin groundwater recharge
slope. Each factor was examined and was assigned an potential. The score of each recharge potential factor was
appropriate weight. calculated as 100 multiplied by the weight of the recharge
Each recharge potential factor may influence the potential divided by the total weight of each recharge
groundwater recharge process to a different degree. potential factor. Table 3 shows the calculation approach.
Moreover, the factors are interdependent. Figure 2 illus- A 1 km 9 1 km grid was used to quantify the score of
trates the conceptual graph of the interrelationships each recharge potential factor based on the characteristics
among the groundwater recharge potential factors. A major of lithology, land use/cover, lineament-length density,
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Environ Geol (2009) 58:185–195 191
Table 3 Score of each recharge potential factor composed of metamorphic limestone. In the midstream
Factor Calculation process Proposed score
region, the basin mainly consists of the Tananao Schist, the
of each influencing slate and phyllite of the Pilushan Formation, and the slate
factor of the Lushan Formation. The downstream region is mainly
composed of gravelly sand. The gravel sand in the down-
Lithology 100 9 (3/10.5) = 29 29
stream and the metamorphic limestone in the upstream are
Land cover/land use 100 9 (2.5/10.5) = 24 24
excellent regions for percolation. Figure 6 shows the dis-
Lineaments 100 9 (2/10.5) = 19 19
tribution of lithology in the study area.
Drainage 100 9 (1.5/10.5) = 14 14
Slope 100 9 (1.5/10.5) = 14 14
Analysis of land use/cover
R100
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Creek basin can be roughly divided into dendritic and drainage pattern. The drainage of the Chih-Pen Creek
grid drainage patterns. The dendritic drainage pattern is basin is distributed mainly downstream. The drainage-
distributed mostly in the northwest region of the basin, length density is often larger than 3.0 km (km2)-1,
while the southeast is mainly grid drainage. The dendritic making the region an excellent percolation recharge zone.
drainage pattern is influenced more by lithology than by The up- and midstream are mostly 1.5–3.0 km (km2)-1.
its structure. For example, the mudstone area in south- Figure 9 shows the drainage length density of the study
ern Taiwan always results in a high density dendritic area.
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significantly, the factor slope varies inversely with the namely very good, good, moderate, low, and poor, based
groundwater recharge. Figure 10 illustrates the distribution on the analysis of the five factors of groundwater recharge
of slopes in the study area. potential. Analytical results demonstrate that the excellent
groundwater recharge potential zone is concentrated in the
Demarcation of the groundwater recharge zone downstream region due to the distribution of gravelly
stratum and agricultural land with a high infiltration ability.
Our results demonstrate that the groundwater recharge Additionally, the concentration of drainage also helps
potential zone of this basin can be divided into five grades, the streamflow to recharge the groundwater system. The
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Environ Geol (2009) 58:185–195 195
upstream region is less important and is influenced by Jaiswal RK, Mukherjee S, Krishnamurthy J, Saxena R (2003) Role of
metamorphic limestone. Figure 11 shows the groundwater remote sensing and GIS techniques for generation of ground-
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