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Optimal ground‐water mining
Author(s) -
Domenico P. A.,
Anderson D. V.,
Case C. M.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr004i002p00247
Subject(s) - yield (engineering) , usable , non renewable resource , expression (computer science) , position (finance) , structural basin , environmental science , water resource management , hydrology (agriculture) , computer science , geology , ecology , business , renewable energy , geotechnical engineering , biology , paleontology , materials science , finance , world wide web , metallurgy , programming language
A mathematical expression relating the economic worth of ground‐water mining to the remaining worth of a basin after it has been partially depleted permits establishment of an optimal, one‐time storage reserve that may justifiably be exploited. With water‐level position selected as the denominator common to both the ground‐water basin and its economic worth, the extreme conditions of perennial use of natural replenishment and depletion of the entire reserve emerge as special cases of the general model. This is reflected through an expression for optimal mining yield, a one‐time volume of nonrenewable water that may take on values ranging from zero to the maximum amount of usable water in storage. The maximizing conditions are expressed in terms of verbal decision rules and give new interpretation to the concept of overdevelopment generally associated with exceeding safe yield. A criterion is thus provided by which the economic state of development can be tested at any time.