ABSTRACT
Abstraction of groundwater for consumptive use, such as for drinking water, agriculture, and industrial purposes, regularly requires the granting of a permanent abstraction licence from environmental regulatory bodies. Temporary abstraction of groundwater required for construction, however, has not historically required an abstraction licence. More recently, due to the conservation of groundwater in Europe now being a major challenge, it is becoming more common in European countries that licensing for the temporary abstraction of groundwater during construction dewatering, known as groundwater control, is now required from the environmental regulators of each country. Due to this requirement for licensing, the development of effective techniques for reducing the overall loss of groundwater has become more important. In particular, such conservation techniques include increased use of artificial recharge of groundwater back into the same strata from which it was abstracted. This paper presents three case studies describing a number of groundwater abstraction and recharge systems implemented on major infrastructure construction projects in the United Kingdom.
