How quickly does groundwater recharge? The answer is found deep underground

By Andy Baker, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney
Margaret Shanafield, Senior researcher, Hydrology/hydrogeology, Flinders University
Marilu Melo Zurita, Associate Professor Human Geography, UNSW Sydney
Stacey Priestley, Research Scientist, Environment Business Unit, CSIRO
Wendy Timms, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Deakin University

You would have learned about the “water cycle” in primary school – water’s journey, from evaporation to rainfall to flowing in a stream or sinking into the ground to become groundwater.

Despite how simple it sounds, there are actually some large unknowns in the cycle – especially concerning groundwater.

We don’t know, for example, how fast aquifers – porous rock layers saturated with water – recharge. Or how much water actually makes it underground. And how much rain do you need to refill these underground reservoirs?

These questions are crucial because we…

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