Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs in the vadose zone below plant roots and, is often expressed as a flux to the water table surface. Groundwater recharge also encompasses water moving away from the water table farther into the saturated zone. Recharge occurs both naturally (through the water cycle) and through anthropogenic processes (i.e., "artificial groundwater recharge"), where rainwater and or reclaimed water is routed to the subsurface.
Watch the MAGNET video and answer the questions that follow:
Questions.
- What is the recharge area of an aquifer?
- Where does it typically occur?
- What is the characteristic groundwater flow direction in the recharge area?
- How does the hydraulic head vary with depth in the discharge area?
- What is the discharge area of an aquifer?
- Where does it typically occur?
- What is the characteristic groundwater flow direction in the discharge area?
- How does the hydraulic head vary with depth in the discharge area?
- Why is that groundwater quality in the aquifer discharge area is often very different from that in the aquifer recharge area?