ABSTRACT
Groundwater is an essential source of freshwater in the United States and in many parts of the world. In many areas, it is the only source of water supply for drinking, agricultural, and industrial purposes. As a freshwater resource, groundwater has many advantages over surface water: It is more uniformly distributed over larger areas, better protected from surface contamination (i.e., chemical and bacterial), and less vulnerable to seasonal and perennial quality changes than surface water [1]. As surface water resources are already developed or fully appropriated to different uses, groundwater has become increasingly targeted as a new and more available resource. Recent studies indicate that in the United States, groundwater supplies 33% of the entire water supply, 98% of the water supply for domestic use, and 42% of the water supply for irrigation use [2]. Furthermore, Siebert et al. [3] show that 37% of the agricultural lands around the world are irrigated using groundwater and 43% of the total consumptive irrigation water is supplied from groundwater. However, the rate at which groundwater has been used in the past few decades raises serious concerns related to the depletion or overdraft of this resource. In addition, agricultural land application of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides may have adversely affected the quality of groundwater. Poor wastewater management practices have led to contamination of shallow aquifers and water quality degradation and have rendered the resource for human consumption. Effective groundwater management from both quality and quantity perspectives is utterly important for a healthy economy, environment, and quality of life. This chapter offers an overview of groundwater availability (i.e., groundwater reservoirs, storage, and depletion) and best recovery management practices (i.e., artificial aquifer recharge).
