Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Ground water in perspective

February 28, 1973

Owing to their enormous capacity, ground‐water reservoirs are at least equal in importance to the ground water itself. As regulators of water movement in the hydrological cycle, these reservoirs surpass all lakes combined, natural and manmade. While many aquifers are not well understood, data on many others are adequate for long‐range broad‐scale planning. An example is the basalt aquifer of the Snake River Plain in Idaho. However, the area has managerial problems which concern the time, the place and the feasibility of manipulations of water. All continents of the world contain great aquifers. For every huge aquifer, however, hundreds of smaller ones occur, and even these contain astonishing amounts of water. Aquifers in the Ohio River Basin of the United States are good examples. Management of total water resources is a difficult problem at many places. But many problems could be met and many water shortages alleviated or eliminated by use of aquifers, not merely as sources of water, but as reservoirs for management of water. 

Publication Year 1973
Title Ground water in perspective
DOI 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1973.tb01707.x
Authors R. L. Nace
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title JAWRA
Index ID 70207210
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse