Groundwater

Water that occurs below the ground and is brought to the land surface by wells or springs is
referred to as groundwater. Groundwater is a significant part of the hydrologic cycle, containing
21 percent of Earth's freshwater. Groundwater comprises 97 percent of fresh water not tied up as
ice and snow in polar ice sheets, glaciers , and snowfields. This greatly exceeds the amount of
water in streams, rivers, and lakes.

Groundwater is critically important in supplying water to streams and wetlands, and in providing
water for irrigation , manufacturing, and other uses. In the United States, 80 to 90 percent of
available fresh water comes from groundwater. Dependence on this resource will continue to
grow, particularly in areas where surface water is limited or has already been fully allocated for
existing uses, including instream requirements (and particularly ecosystem needs).

Groundwater once was thought to be of unlimited quantity and naturally protected by the soils
above it. It is, however, significantly vulnerable to overuse and the improper use and disposal of
chemicals at the land surface. The proper use and protection of this resource requires an
understanding of how the groundwater system works. In particular, water managers need to
know what groundwater is, where it comes from, how it occurs in the subsurface, and how it
moves below the ground.

Groundwater Origin and Occurrence

Groundwater is water that occurs below the Earth's surface at depths where all the pore (open)
spaces in the soil, sediment , or rock are completely filled with water (see Figure 1). All
groundwater, whether from a

Figure 1. In the unsaturated zone, pore spaces contain air; hence, no groundwater can be pumped
from this zone. Usable groundwater occurs in the saturated zone, where pore spaces are
completely filled with water.
shallow well or a deep well , originates and is replenished (recharged) by precipitation.
Groundwater is part of the hydrologic cycle, originating when part of the precipitation that falls
on the Earth's surface sinks (infiltrates) through the soil and percolates (seeps) downward to
become groundwater. Groundwater will eventually come back to the surface, discharging to
streams, springs, lakes, or the oceans, to complete the hydrologic cycle.

Groundwater Zones.

A well that is drilled will first pass through a zone called the unsaturated (vadose) zone where
the openings in the soil, sediment, or rock are primarily filled with air (Figure 1). Water exists
here only in transit downward. The thickness of this zone depends on such factors as climate,
elevation, season of the year, and area-wide groundwater withdrawals through pumping. In the
rainy season of humid areas, the unsaturated zone may be a fairly thin layer, extending from the
land surface to only a few meters (10 feet or so) below the surface. But in drier months of the
year, the unsaturated zone may extend deeper as recharge to the aquifer declines and withdrawals
increase. In arid regions, the unsaturated zone may be a thick layer, extending from the land
surface to 300 meters (1,000 feet) or more below it.

Further drilling will reach a zone called the saturated zone where all of the openings are filled
with water, and where the water is known as groundwater. If the saturated zone is permeable
enough to supply a well with water under normal hydraulic gradients, this saturated zone is
called an aquifer. Importantly, an aquifer is not an underground river, lake, or pool. Rather it
consists of geologic materials whose open spaces (pore spaces) are filled with water that moves
down a pressure gradient, and which can be tapped productively by wells. The top of the
saturated zone is called either the water table (if the aquifer is unconfined) or the potentiometric
surface (if the aquifer is confined): see Figure 2.

To visualize the zones, imagine a bucket filled with gravel. Ample pore space exists between the
individual pieces of gravel. If water is poured on top of the gravel, the water will percolate down
through the pore spaces and begin to fill these spaces from the bottom up. The water in pore
spaces at the bottom of the bucket represents groundwater; that is, all the pore spaces are filled
with water. If holes were punched in the bottom of the bucket, water would flow out. Using this
analogy, the bucket of gravel is like an aquifer: water is stored within in it and will move through
it toward a discharge point—in this case, the hole in the bucket.

Permeability is determined by the size of pores and the degree to which they are interconnected,
and hence, the ease by which water can flow through the material. Highly permeable aquifers,
such as those comprised primarily of coarse sand and gravel, can supply more water than less
permeable aquifers, such as those comprised of silts or clays. In this example, the pores in sand
and gravel are larger than those in silt and clay, so water moves through sand and gravel more
quickly. In some aquifers, especially in sedimentary bedrock, water occurs in fractures (cracks)
instead of pore spaces in sediments. The yield from a fractured rock aquifer can vary from less
than 1 liter per minute, or about 0.3 gallons per minute (if the well encounters few fractures) to
large quantities of groundwater—for example, more than 300 liters per minute, or about 100
gallons per minute (if the fractures are numerous and large).
Figure 2. AQUIFERS. The water table defines the top of an unconfined aquifer. Water in a well
penetrating an unconfined aquifer will remain at the elevation of the water table. Some streams
and lakes intercept the water table, allowing direct groundwater–surface water exchange. The
potentiometric surface reflects the water pressure of a confined aquifer, and is the level to which
water in a well will naturally rise (i.e., to an elevation above the confined aquifer it penetrates).
WELLS. All wells in confined aquifers are considered artesian wells. If the elevation of the
potentiometric surface is above than the elevation of the land surface, groundwater will flow
naturally (without pumping) from the well, known as a flowing artesian well. RECHARGE.
Recharge to unconfined aquifers occurs over a wide area of the unsaturated zone, directly above
the aquifer. Recharge to confined aquifers occurs only where there is a pathway (e.g., a fracture)
through the confining layers, or where the confined aquifer is exposed at the surface and
becomes unconfined. Generally, the recharge area for a confined aquifer is at a higher elevation
than the aquifer itself, and may be many kilometers from the well.

Aquifer and Well Types.

Aquifers are divided into two types: unconfined and confined. An unconfined aquifer is often
shallow, and the vadose zone above it primarily contains permeable material. The top of the
aquifer is the water table. The water table moves up and down on a seasonal basis. It is highest
during the wet season owing to higher recharge and lower pumping rates (e.g., no irrigation), and
lowest during the dry season because of limited recharge and higher use (e.g., a high rate of
irrigation).

Confined aquifers may be shallow or deep, and are characterized by being separated from the
surface by low-permeability strata (e.g., geologic layers) that confines the groundwater below it.
In a confined aquifer, groundwater is generally under pressure. This water pressure may vary
seasonally, similar to the water table in an unconfined aquifer.
Because groundwater in a confined aquifer is under pressure, it will rise in a well bore above the
level of the aquifer penetrated by that well. One way to visualize this is to squeeze a milk or juice
pouch that is punctured at the top by a straw. If the straw fits firmly into the squeezed pouch, the
liquid will rise up into the straw, above its level inside the pouch.

Artesian and flowing artesian wells are typical of wells drilled into confined aquifers. An
artesian well is one in which the groundwater rises above the level of the penetrated aquifer. The
water in an artesian well will rise to an elevation at which the pressure of the water in the aquifer
is matched by the pressure reflected by the elevation of the water in the well; this level is known
as the hydrostatic level. If groundwater reaches all the way to the surface under its own pressure,
the well is called a flowing artesian well (see Figure 2).

Groundwater Movement
The water table (or the potentiometric surface of a confined aquifer) is not a flat surface: rather,
there are high areas and low areas just like the hills and valleys found on land. Just as surface
water tends to flow downhill, groundwater tends to move downgradient from water-table areas
(or potentiometric regions) of higher elevation to water-table areas (or potentiometric regions) of
lower elevation.

Normally, but not exclusively, the higher water-table areas of uncon-fined aquifers coincide with
higher elevation at the land surface, and the lower water-table areas coincide with low areas. As
a result, groundwater in unconfined aquifers tends to flow towards, and discharge to, streams,
lakes, and wetlands, because these waterbodies often occur in low points of the watershed. Even
groundwater from confined aquifers tends to discharge to larger area-wide rivers.

Two other common discharge areas for groundwater are springs and wells. A spring is an area
where groundwater has access to the land surface. In some cases, precipitation infiltrating
downward from the ground surface encounters a relatively impermeable rock or sediment layer
as it moves down toward the underlying aquifer. The groundwater, which cannot pass through
the low-permeability layer, moves along the top of the layer until the layer is exposed at the
ground surface and the water can emerge as a spring. In this typical "gravity spring," the most
common form of spring, gravity is the driving force for water movement. Such springs
commonly occur at the side of a hill, or at an outcrop such as a bluff or canyon wall (see the
small figure below). In other cases, fractures allow groundwater to move from the aquifer to the
surface. Groundwater from a spring can issue onto the land surface, or directly into a stream,
lake, or ocean.
A well also provides a connection between groundwater and the land surface. In general, a pump
is used to draw the groundwater up to the land surface where it can then be used.

Flow Rate.

When referring to how fast surface water moves, hydrologists generally talk in terms of either
meters or feet per second. Groundwater moves much more slowly than water in streams, often at
rates of only a few centimeters (inches) per day. Groundwater velocity is controlled by the
permeability of the aquifer and steepness of the water table (or potentiometric surface). The more
permeable the aquifer and the steeper the the slope of the water table or potentiometric surface
(i.e., the pressure gradient), the faster groundwater moves. In highly permeable gravels or in
fractures, groundwater may move 10 meters (33 feet) per day or more.

Recharge.

Recharge, or replenishment, of an unconfined aquifer occurs at the ground surface directly above
the aquifer. In contrast, recharge to a confined aquifer may occur many miles away, typically at a
higher elevation where the aquifer is no longer confined; that is, where the overlying materials
are permeable and allow percolating rainfall to reach the confined aquifer (See "Recharge to
Confined Aquifer" in Figure 2). Once recharged, the groundwater flows downgradient to where
the aquifer is confined.

Pumping and Overpumping

Wells supply water by being drilled to a depth below the water table of an unconfined aquifer or
into a confined aquifer. When a well is pumping, it lowers the water table (or the potentiometric
surface) around it. This causes groundwater to move towards the well, supplying the water that is
being pumped out of the well. As long as the pump intake is below the water level in the well,
water can be pumped.

Well Interference.

Well interference occurs when the water table (or potentiometric level) in one well is
significantly lowered as a result of the pumping of a nearby well. Sometimes the interference can
be so great that the water table (or potentiometric level) in the first well is lowered below the
pump intakes or even below the bottom of the well itself.

How can wells interfere with one another? When pumping begins, the water table (or
potentiometric surface) around the well begins to drop as the aquifer supplies water to the well.
This drop in water levels is called drawdown. The area of drawdown is shaped like a three-
dimensional, funnel-shaped cone, centered on the well. Pumping rate and aquifer characteristic
determine the depth of the drawdown cone and the areal extent (horizontal) of the drawdown.

The following illustration represents the water table as the top of the lower cube; the aquifer as
the lower cube itself; and the well as a pipe extending from the land surface (top of the upper
cube) down to the aquifer, below the water table. The drawdown cone, also known as a cone of
depression, is indicated.

How deep and how wide the drawdown cone is depends on aquifer characteristics and how much
water is being pumped. Interference occurs when the drawdown cone from one well reaches
another well and lowers the water level in that well. Consider the following two examples of
well interference in a water-table aquifer.

First, suppose a high-capacity irrigation well (Well 1 on page 155) is drilled near two shallow
private drinking-water wells (Well 2 and Well 3). High pumping volumes from the irrigation
well may lower the water table from its original level to a new (lower) level, which is at a depth
below the private wells. In this example, Well 2 would be unable to pump water while the
irrigation well (Well 1) is pumping. Well 3 barely penetrates the lowered water table, and would
likely experience intermittent pumping failures if the irrigation well were also pumping. In other
words, the irrigation well pumpage interferes with the water production from both Well 2 and
Well 3.

As another example, suppose a city wants to increase its water supply. A new well (Well B
below) is drilled very close to an existing well (Well A) that is highly productive. When both
wells are pumping, they mutually interfere with one another, and the production of both wells is
lowered. Because of this mutual interference, the combined production of the two wells may be
only slightly greater than the production of each well by itself.

In the diagram below, the drawdown associated with Well A by itself is shown as a heavy dashed
line. Well B pumping by itself would produce a similar drawdown around itself. Note that the
amount of water available to Well A (from the bottom of the cone to the bottom of the well) has
been substantially reduced by the placement of Well B too close to Well A. Neither Well A or
Well B can now produce as much as if they were pumping by themselves.

In most states, laws prohibit significant well interference. A well cannot be operated in such a
manner to significantly reduce the production from previously existing wells. The potential of
well interference can be calculated if hydrologists know the permeability, thickness and storage
characteristics of the aquifer and at what rate the well(s) in question will be pumping.

Groundwater Mining.

Excessive pumping of water from an aquifer may result in an areawide lowering of the water
table. This will eventually occur anywhere more water is pumped than is recharged by
infiltrating precipitation. Overdrafting an aquifer can result in changes in groundwater quality, a
reduction in groundwater availability (and hence the loss of water supply to current and future
wells), and perhaps even a permanent loss of the aquifer's capacity to store water. Many states
use the water right process to manage groundwater quantity and to ensure that overdrafting does
not occur.