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British Geological Survey, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK
Recharge is pivotal to understanding the processes by which groundwater pollution can occur. It is implicit in the classification of aquifer units according to their vulnerability to pollution. The management of both groundwater resources and of individual groundwater sources cannot sensibly be undertaken without some knowledge of recharge: its quantity, its seasonality and, above all, the different routes through the sub-soil and the unsaturated zone by which it can occur. However, current estimates of recharge, other than on a research site basis, may be poor, both in the UK and overseas. This volume provides a review of current research into these issues; this introductory paper attempts to highlight the thread throughout all of this work which collectively provides the basic information in support of the current and future management of groundwater resources and sources.
