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Mapping Recharge Areas Using a Ground‐Water Flow Model – A Case Study
Author(s) -
Stoertz Mary W.,
Bradbury Kenneth R.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1989.tb00443.x
Subject(s) - groundwater recharge , aquifer , hydrology (agriculture) , depression focused recharge , hydraulic conductivity , geology , water table , groundwater , groundwater model , vadose zone , soil science , geotechnical engineering , soil water
We have developed a method to calculate ground‐ water recharge rates using the mass‐balance equation, water‐ table elevation data, estimates of hydraulic conductivity, and aquifer thickness data, and have applied this method to produce a map of the recharge and discharge patterns for a ground‐water basin in central Wisconsin. This recharge mapping method is simplified using a modified computer program, the USGS Modular Groundwater Flow Model (McDonald and Harbaugh, 1984). The modeled recharge pattern compares favorably with a recharge map based on field observations. Because recharge rates are extremely sensitive to hydraulic conductivity, the magnitudes of the calculated rates are less reliable than the patterns of recharge and discharge areas. However, introducing stream discharge data constrains the model to produce net recharge rates averaged over the basin which agree with estimates of the basin yield. Because the method is insensitive to the position of lateral boundaries, it can be used to map recharge over areas within basins that are not physically bounded. Recharge maps made with this method can be used to design ground‐water monitoring networks and as frameworks for interpreting geochemical or potentiometric data.