Abstract

Simply stated, groundwater recharge is the addition of water to the groundwater system. Most of the water that is potentially available for recharging the groundwater system in Montgomery and adjacent counties in southeast Texas moves relatively rapidly from land surface to surface-water bodies and sustains streamflow, lake levels, and wetlands. Recharge in southeast Texas is generally balanced by evapotranspiration, discharge to surface waters, and the downward movement of water into deeper parts of the groundwater system; however, this balance can be altered locally by groundwater withdrawals, impervious surfaces, land use, precipitation variability, or climate, resulting in increased or decreased rates of recharge. Recharge rates were compared to the 1971–2000 normal annual precipitation measured Cooperative Weather Station 411956, Conroe, Tex.

Recharge rates to the Chicot aquifer in Montgomery County ranged from 0.2 to 7.2 inches per year or 0.4 to 14.6 percent of normal annual precipitation. Recharge rates to the Evangeline aquifer in Montgomery County ranged from less than 0.1 to 2.8 inches per year or 0.2 to 5.67 percent of normal annual precipitation. Recharge rates to the Jasper aquifer in Montgomery, Walker and Waller Counties ranged from less than 0.1 to 0.5 inches per year or 0.2 to 1.01 percent of normal annual precipitation.

First posted August 16, 2013