Groundwater in the United States 1975–78

Abstract

During the quadrennial period 1975–78, interest in groundwater in the United States has been at a high level. The water‐related environmental problems associated with energy and mineral resource development, particularly on Federal lands, have contributed in part to this interest. Environmental issues and the progress toward implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 and of the Water Pollution Control Act Amendment of 1972 (Section 208), including planning aspects at the state level, have resulted in a greater awareness of groundwater‐related quality problems. The major drought that occurred during this period in the western and central part of the United States created a greater awareness at National and local levels of the overall water supply and economic significance of the groundwater systems underlying drought‐affected areas.

The statistical mechanical theory of groundwater flow

“…The widespread public concern with groundwater management problems related to energy and mineral resource development and to waste disposal on land has generated significant research activity in the area of computer modeling of groundwater flow systems [Rosenshein, 1979]. This applied research necessarily has been based in part on assumptions concerning the differential equations that describe the transport of matter and energy through an aquifer.…”