Chapter 5 Capturing of Groundwater Basins and Shifts of Divides 5.1 General ‘The boundaries of surface water drainage systems and watersheds are controlled by both base-level elevation and topography. Changes of the above might occur due to ‘erosion, backward incision of the drainage systems and as a result capturing and shifts of the surface water divides. ‘When dealing with groundwater basins, additional factors might effect captur- ing, diversion of groundwater flow from one basin to another, and divide shifts. The response of the systems to those factors can be in some cases faster than in the ease of surface water drainage basins. The main effecting factors involved in the above processes are climatic changes and the resultant changes of recharge, considerable tectonic changes of base-level elevation, karstification, groundwater sapping and anthropogenic groundwater exploitation. 5.2. Climate Changes Groundwater systems as well as lake levels are sensitive to both global and local climate changes. Pluvial and humid climates result in increased recharge to the groundwater systems, and thus rising water tables and adjoining lake levels that are fed by both ground and surface water. Closed topographic depressions are trans- ferred to closed basin lakes that start to act as local base-levels that attract ‘convergent groundwater flow into them and as a result groundwater divides are formed in between those lakes (Urbano et al. 2004). Consequently, the entire regional groundwater flow system is subjected to partitioning into smaller cells (Urbano et al. 2000), Arid climates, on the other hand, result in decreased surface flows, higher cevapotranspiration, reduced recharge to groundwater and decline of both ground- water levels and lake levels, sometimes attaining a complete desiccation. These U. Kaffi and Y. Yeehili, Groundwater Base Level Changes and 37 Adjoining Hydrological Systems DOL 10.1007/97-5612-13944-4_5, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 201038 5 Capturing of Groundwater Basins and Shifts of Divides Fig. 5.1. Conceptual model indicating the changes of water table geometry between wet and dry periods [afer Urbano et al. (2004), During the arid period, the hz base level is captured to the Tower hy base level lakes cease to act as local base-levels or discharge zones, the local groundwater divides disappear and groundwater flow is being diverted and captured to lower (lakes) base-levels (Urbano et al, 2004) (Fig. 5.1). The shift of the groundwater divides is related to the new consequences of recharge distribution to the slope of the water table and the loss of water through evaporation from the lakes as ‘demonstrated by simulations (Gosselin and Khisty 2001). Smith et al. (1997) described the same phenomenon from Minnesota, USA where lakes in the northern Great Plains responded to climatic change as follows: Local (lake) base-levels, which were formed by rising water tables during bumid periods, were subsequently, during Holocene droughts and water table decline, ‘captured to lower base-levels. Holzbecher (2001) described, from the north-east German Lake District, the ‘dynamics of groundwater divides between the groundwater dominated lakes. Lake Stechlin and the neighboring lakes are closed basins with no surface flow. Both hydrological observations and modeling have shown that the system is sensitive to current climatic changes whereby the anthropogenic effect is negligible Groundwater watersheds change and the groundwater divides between the lakes build-up, move or Vanish as a consequence of changes from rainy years to dry ‘Variations in aquifer recharge, due to climatic changes, are also able to modify the groundwater flow network so as to move position of groundwater divides, as also stated by Dragoni and Sukhija (2008), 5.3 Tectonically Induced Elevation Changes of Base-Levels ‘Tectonic displacements might result in formation of a new base-level close to an already existing one which will end up capturing part of the existing groundwater basin to newly formed one. This phenomenon is emphasized in cases of newly formed continental base-levels close to the marine base-level and often below sea level. Example of such a case is the Dead Sea Rift (DSR) base level (Kafti 1970;