Ground Water

• Sub-surface water, or groundwater, is fresh water located in the pore space of soil and
rocks. It is also water that is flowing within aquifers below the water table. Sometimes it is useful to
make a distinction between sub-surface water that is closely associated with surface water and deep
sub-surface water in an aquifer (sometimes called "fossil water").

• Water-bearing rock layers called aquifers are saturated (soaked) with groundwater that
moves, often very slowly, through small openings and spaces

Sub-surface water can be thought of in the same terms as surface water: inputs, outputs and
storage. The critical difference is that due to its slow rate of turnover, sub-surface water storage is
generally much larger compared to inputs than it is for surface water. This difference makes it easy
for humans to use sub- surface water unsustainably for a long time without severe consequences.
Nevertheless, over the long term the average rate of seepage above a sub-surface water source is
the upper bound for average consumption of water from that source.

• The natural input to sub-surface water is seepage from surface water. The natural outputs
from sub-surface water are springs and seepage to the oceans.—

 If the surface water source is also subject to substantial evaporation, a sub-surface water
source may become saline. This situation can occur naturally under endorheic bodies of water, or
artificially under irrigated farmland.
 In coastal areas, human use of a sub-surface water source may cause the direction of
seepage to ocean to reverse which can also cause soil salinization. Humans can also cause sub-
surface water to be "lost" (i.e. become unusable) through pollution. Humans can increase the input
to a sub-surface water source by building reservoirs or detention ponds.
What is Groundwater?

In this diagram, the ground below the water table (the blue area) is saturated with water. The
"unsaturated zone" above the water table (the greenish area) still contains water, but it is not totally
saturated with water. The two drawings at the bottom of the diagram show a close-up of how water is
stored in between underground rock particles.

Few natural resources are as important, or as invisible, as groundwater. Even

though it exists almost everywhere around the world, few people understand what
groundwater is, or how critical these vast reservoirs of underground water are to
modern life.

"Groundwater is any water that lies in aquifers beneath the land surface," said
Steven Phillips, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Sacramento,
California. While some of the water that falls as precipitation is channeled into
streams or lakes, and some is used by plants or evaporates back into the
atmosphere, most of it seeps underground.
The oceans contain about 97 percent of the Earth's water, but that, of course, isn't
drinkable. About 2 percent is frozen at the poles or in glaciers. Of the remaining 1
percent, almost all of it — about 96 percent — is groundwater, according to
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The rest of our
freshwater is found at the surface in streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands.
Groundwater may be near the Earth's surface or as deep as 30,000 feet, according
to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). An area's "water table" is the level beneath the
surface where water-saturated soil and rock is found; above the level of the water
table is unsaturated soil — even though that soil is damp, it also contains air.
How groundwater moves

Because it's impossible to see and difficult to measure, there are a number of myths
associated with groundwater. It's widely believed, for example, that groundwater
flows like an underground river: Though there are a handful of places with large
underground gaps where water can flow rapidly, these are very rare.

Groundwater does move, however, and it usually flows downward through the force
of gravity because most natural replenishment takes place in the mountains, Phillips
said. Depending on the density of the rock and soil through which groundwater
moves, it can creep along as slowly as a few centimeters in a century, according
to Environment Canada. In other areas, where the rock and soil are looser and more
permeable, groundwater can move several feet in a day.
More porous rock, such as limestone, sandstone and gravel, has innumerable small
spaces that can hold water. Some of the world's largest aquifers — vast
underground reservoirs of groundwater — are found in regions with these porous
bedrocks.

Groundwater can also be found in regions where the bedrock is made of denser
material — such as granite or basalt — if that bedrock has been cracked or
shattered. Dense, impermeable material like clay or shale can act as an "aquitard,"
i.e., a layer of rock or other material that is almost impenetrable to water, Phillips
said. Through water might move through such material, it will do so very slowly (if at
all).

When an aquifer is confined beneath an aquitard layer, the pressure on the

groundwater can be enough to force the water out of any well that's drilled into that
aquifer. Such wells are known as artesian wells.

Groundwater can be trapped beneath the Earth's surface for millions of years. Tests
on ancient groundwater dripping from fractures in a deep mine revealed the liquid to
be between 1.1 to 2.7 billion years old.
Groundwater quality
While surface water quality varies due to erosion, runoff, pollution, plant matter,
animal waste and other possible contaminants, groundwater quality is generally
more stable. And because it usually moves slowly through rock, groundwater is
filtered of many contaminants, including some bacteria and viruses. These factors
make groundwater an important drinking water resource.

This does not mean, however, that groundwater can't be contaminated: There are
many cases worldwide where important groundwater resources (and drinking water
supplies) have been ruined by saltwater intrusion (a particular problem in coastal
areas), biological contaminants such as manure or septic tank discharge, and
industrial chemicals such as pesticides or petroleum products. And once
groundwater is contaminated, it's notoriously difficult to remediate.

In addition to concerns about groundwater quality, the overall volume of groundwater

in aquifers is also a serious environmental issue. Groundwater is a finite resource,
and even large aquifers can be drained of much of their water, especially during
droughts, when aquifers aren't recharged by precipitation.

In California's southern San Joaquin Valley, groundwater levels declined more than
150 feet (46 meters) during the state's severe 1976-1977 drought. This scenario has
repeated during subsequent droughts.

"We're seeing substantial loss of storage in the Central Valley aquifer in California,"
Phillips said. "It's gone from being a lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley to a
place where the water table is 500 feet [152 m] below the surface."

Groundwater losses
Excessive pumping of groundwater can result in a lowering of the water table; in
severe cases, where pumping demand is high and aquifer recharge is slow, the
water table can drop so low that it's below the depth of a well. When that happens,
the well "runs dry" and no water can be removed until the groundwater is recharged
— which, in some cases, can take hundreds or thousands of years. Lowering the
water table also decreases the water flow into lakes, rivers and streams.

"Groundwater is an important ecological resource to critters as well as us, and we've

already had serious problems in many areas where big sources of water for wildlife
— waterfowl in particular — have dried up," Phillips said.

The importance of preserving groundwater resources is underscored by the number

of places that depend on groundwater for drinking water, industrial uses and other
needs. Texas gets almost 60 percent of its water from groundwater; in Florida,
groundwater supplies more than 90 percent of the state's fresh water. California's
farming-centric Central Valley accounts for 20 percent of all of nation's groundwater
withdrawals, according to the USGS.
But in these states and many others, groundwater resources are threatened by
competing interests, from agriculture and mining to private residences with drinking
water wells on the property.

For example, the Ogallala Aquifer — a vast, 174,000 square-mile (450,000 square
kilometers) groundwater reservoir — lies beneath the Great Plains, stretching from
South Dakota to Texas. The Ogallala supplies almost one-third of America's
agricultural groundwater, but by 2010, about 30 percent of the aquifer's groundwater
had been tapped.
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Parts of the Ogallala Aquifer are now dry, and the water table has declined more
than 300 feet in other areas, according to the Texas Water Development Board. Not
only do these groundwater losses have serious implications for agricultural
production and the regional economy, they may also have a significant and
immediate effect on the more than 1.8 million people who rely on the Ogallala
Aquifer for their drinking water.
"Although there is still a lot of groundwater deep down, it gets saltier and saltier the
farther you go," Phillips said.

Additional reporting by Marc Lallanilla.

 Additional resources
 The U.S. Geological Survey tracks groundwater use in the United States.
 The U.S. Geological Survey's Groundwater Watch provides information from about 850,000
groundwater wells collected during the past 100 years.
 The U.S. Water Monitor is a daily "water health" report that summarizes federal water
information.
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 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.
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.

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).
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).
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.

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.