White Paper 07

07 – Groundwater Recharge Estimates in Minnesota

Description
Sustainable groundwater management requires understanding mechanisms controlling groundwater flow, including groundwater recharge. A widely-used text (Freeze and Cherry, 1979) provides a general definition: recharge is “the entry into the saturated zone of water made available at the water-table surface, together with the associated flow away from the water table within the saturated zone.” Recharge is rarely known with precision, though it is integral to most hydrogeologic studies, particularly those involving mass balance calculations or groundwater flow modeling.

Objectives
The intended readership for this White Paper includes groundwater practitioners conducting hydrogeologic projects involving recharge, and decision-makers concerned with sustainable groundwater management. Text length will be roughly ten to twenty pages in standard format.

Scoping Document

Participation
To join the workgroup on this white paper please contact Jim Lundy at peatmoss2012@gmail.com

Questions
Contact Jim Lundy at peatmoss2012@gmail.com