Project Number:
WR01R003
Funding Year:
2001
Contract Period:
7/1/2001 - 6/30/2002
Funding Source:
UWS
Investigator(s):
PIs:- Randy Hunt, USGS
Abstract:
Background/Need
Decreased flooding and increased baseflows in Driftless Area streams over the past century have been attributed to improved land management practices (Gebert and Krug 1996). Kent (1999) tried to relate land management to groundwater recharge (the dominant component of baseflow) in the Driftless Area but the results were largely inconclusive. An understanding of the influence of spatially distributed recharge and hydrostratigraphic properties on local groundwater flow is needed in order to evaluate effects of land management change on the hydrology of the Driftless Area.
Objectives
The purpose of this investigation was: 1) to improve our understanding of groundwater flow in the Driftless Area at various watershed scales, and 2) to evaluate focused recharge (i.e., hillslope recharge) as a driver for changes in baseflow during three different time periods.