Regional Estimation of Total Recharge to Ground Water in Nebraska

• Main Authors: Jozsef Szilagyim, F. Edwin Harvey, Jerry F. Ayers
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cedar River; Sand Hills; Beaver Creek
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.530.9725; http://snr.unl.edu/szilagyi/gw3.pdf

Naturally occurring long-term mean annual recharge to ground water in Nebraska was estimated by a novel water-balance approach. This approach uses geographic information systems (GIS) layers of land cover, elevation of land and ground water surfaces, base recharge, and the recharge potential in combination with monthly climatic data. Long-term mean recharge> 140 rnm per year was estimated in eastern Nebraska, having the highest annual precipi-tation rates within the state, along the Elkhorn, Platte, Missouri, and Big Nemaha River valleys where ground water is very close to the surface. Similarly high recharge values were obtained for the Sand Hills sections of the North and Middle Loup, as well as Cedar River and Beaver Creek valleys due to high infiltration rates of the sandy soil in the area. The westernmost and southwesternmost parts of the state were estimated to typically receive < 30 mm of recharge a year.