Quantification of Groundwater Recharge

Knowledge of groundwater recharge is important for good environmental 
management. Recharge is the water from precipitation that infiltrates far enough below the 
ground surface to cross the water table where it is added to the groundwater zone. 
Groundwater recharge is one of the most important processes of the water cycle because 
this addition of water to the groundwater zone allows aquifers to sustain water supply to 
wells on which our civilization relies. Furthermore, this recharge water supplies the 
baseflow to streams and rivers as well as seepage to wetlands, peatlands and desert oases
that support vital, sensitive ecological systems. 
Although the concept of water infiltrating to the groundwater zone is readily 
visualized, the task of determining the amount of recharge over a period, such as annual 
recharge, is fraught with difficulties and uncertainty because many factors are involved. 
The timing of recharge varies from region to region. In some arid regions recharge occurs
only when there is an exceptionally large precipitation event, perhaps only once every few 
years, while in humid regions recharge commonly occurs during many precipitation events
throughout the year. 
This book is global in its examination of recharge with emphasis on the 
circumstances of recharge, the processes that govern recharge, and the estimation of 
recharge rates. This book is a companion to a book previously published by the 
Groundwater Project, Groundwater Resource Development: Effect and Sustainability,
that examines how recharge relates to sustainable and unsustainable use of groundwater 
resources. 
The authors of this book have conducted recharge studies in many countries around 
the globe. Dr. Peter Cook is a Professional Research Fellow at Flinders University, Australia 
and Director of the Australia National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. He
also authored the Groundwater Project book titled Introduction to Isotopes and 
Environmental Tracers as Indicators of Groundwater Flow. Dr. Philip Brunner is a 
professor at the Centre for Hydrogeology at the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, 
where he leads the Hydrogeological Processes group.