ABSTRACT
The chapter presents a survey of methods of assessing groundwater recharge on local as well as regional scales. The effective infiltration rate was applied as a method of evaluating the level of recharge within a river catchment. This method, using the properties of the soil and/or rock occurring on the surface as well as atmospheric precipitation, allows for the calculation of groundwater recharge with high accuracy. The calculations were verified by means of separating river hydrograph from low flow and also by means of applying Wundt’s method. Selected catchment areas in Lower Silesia demonstrate agreement between the figures based on the measurements and those calculated using Wundt’s method. The effective recharge in these areas amounts on average to 18.5% of atmospheric precipitation. Dissimilar, significantly higher, values of recharge have been shown for mountainous regions, where the figures are in the range of 18-55%. The calculations were, in this case, based on the lysimeter infiltration monitoring, monitoring of groundwater drainage by gallery, river discharge hydrograph and groundwater table fluctuation.
