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An Assessment of Groundwater Recharge on the Channel Island of Jersey
Author(s) -
McCartney M. P.,
HoughtonCarr H. A.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
water and environment journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1747-6593
pISSN - 1747-6585
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-6593.1998.tb00214.x
Subject(s) - groundwater recharge , hydrology (agriculture) , depression focused recharge , baseflow , environmental science , surface runoff , groundwater , water balance , channel (broadcasting) , water resource management , aquifer , streamflow , geology , geography , drainage basin , ecology , engineering , geotechnical engineering , cartography , electrical engineering , biology
On the Channel Island of Jersey, a third of the total water requirements are obtained from groundwater sources. A reliable estimate of recharge is necessary for sustainable groundwater management. Past resource management has been limited, partly because the rate of recharge is uncertain. This paper describes the application of three independent methods of estimating recharge: (a) chloride balance, (b) stream baseflow analysis, and (c) rainfall‐recharge‐runoff simulation. All three methods produce reasonably consistent results, indicating that long‐term recharge is 16–19% of average annual rainfall, and results of modelling indicate that groundwater abstraction may have exceeded recharge in 5 out of 28 years. These findings have important implications for the management of the island's water resources.