Safe Yield of Aquifers

Abstract

Existing methods for determining the perennial safe yield of ground-water basins are examined in this paper. The inherent problems of these methods are described. A new method of estimating the safe yield is developed, which includes approximate representations of basin dimensions, hydraulic characteristics, and estimated duration of the worst drought. The application of the method uses a simple graph. The suitability of the method for application to real aquifers is tested using a distributed parameter surface water/ground-water model of an aquifer in the English Midlands. For this particular example the method is shown to work well. Therefore, it can be tentatively concluded that a new way of estimating the perennial safe yield of an aquifer has been developed.