River Swale and Sherwood Sandstone Aquifer: A Conceptual Groundwater Model
The Sherwood Sandstone Aquifer lies beneath the lower part of the River Swale catchment in North Yorkshire and forms a groundwater management unit within the Swale Ure, Nidd and Ouse (SUNO) Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy (CAMS).
The Sherwood Sandstone aquifer in the Lower Swale study area has the potential to supply significant quantities of water, although there are only limited abstractions at present. In contrast, the River Swale surface water resources are well utilised, and periodic low flows further down the catchment currently limit further surface water abstractions during stress periods.
JBA Consulting was commissioned by the Environment Agency, North East Region to evaluate the extent of the present knowledge base regarding the hydrology, solid geology, drift geology and hydrogeology of the Lower Swale area and to decide where further investigation will be required to produce a representative conceptual groundwater model.
The report presents the available data, analysis, water balance estimation and the current conceptual model of the groundwater resources. This includes a mass balance of the water fluxes and a numerical model to check the conceptual model.
The work has highlighted both the key role of the drift geology in recharge and baseflow discharge and some of the uncertainties that persist in our knowledge regarding true rates of recharge to the Sherwood Sandstone.
