Groundwater constitutes the most important reservoir of available clean
water. Due to its overexploitation, some anthropogenic mismanagement on
the surface and the overloading of the cleanup potential of subsurface,
many of the groundwater systems used for water supply are in jeopardy.
The problem is very severe in dry-lands, but also in urban, industrial,
agricultural and traffic areas.
This book first addresses the recharge fluxes relating both to the
quantity and quality of groundwater. In order to face the threats to the
water supply and to be able to maintain a sustainable water management
policy, detailed knowledge is needed on the surface-to-subsurface
transformation link in the water cycle. Secondly, a comparison of both
the traditional and modern approaches to determine groundwater recharge
is presented. The traditional approach to determine groundwater recharge
is based on water balance estimates and hydraulic considerations, which
yield instantaneous values at best but do not integrate the totality of
recharge pathways in time and space. In contrast, environmental tracers
integrate these factors. Finally, the fate of groundwater recharge in
the subsurface by hydraulic and geologic means is explained in detail,
in order to stimulate adapted groundwater-management strategies and to
better assess consequences of climate changes on groundwater resources
as a whole.