Many of the world's major aquifers are under severe stress as a result of intensive pumping to support irrigated agriculture and provide drinking water supplies for millions. The question of what the future holds for these aquifers is one of global importance. Without better information about subsurface conditions, it will be difficult to reliably assess an aquifer's response to management actions and climatic stresses. One important but underutilized source of information is the data from monitoring well networks that provide near-continuous records of water levels through time. Most organizations running these networks are, by necessity, primarily focused on network maintenance. The result is that relatively little attention is given to interpretation of the acquired hydrographs. However, embedded in those hydrographs is valuable information about subsurface conditions and aquifer responses to natural and anthropogenic stresses. We demonstrate the range of insights that can be gleaned from such hydrographs using data from the High Plains aquifer index well network of the Kansas Geological Survey. We show how information about an aquifer's hydraulic state and lateral extent, the nature of recharge, the hydraulic connection to the aquifer and nearby pumping wells, and the expected response to conservation-based pumping reductions can be extracted from these hydrographs. The value of this information is dependent on accurate water-level measurements; errors in those measurements can make it difficult to fully exploit the insights that water-well hydrographs can provide. We therefore conclude by presenting measures that can help reduce the potential for such errors.

中文翻译：

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水井水道图：用于表征地下条件的未充分利用的资源

由于为支持灌溉农业和为数百万人提供饮用水而进行密集抽水，世界上许多主要含水层都处于严重压力之下。这些含水层的未来如何是全球重要的问题之一。如果没有关于地下条件的更好信息，就很难可靠地评估含水层对管理行动和气候压力的反应。一个重要但未充分利用的信息来源是来自监测井网络的数据，这些数据提供了近乎连续的水位记录。大多数运行这些网络的组织必然主要专注于网络维护。结果是对获取的水文过程线的解释给予了相对较少的关注。然而，嵌入在这些水文图中的是关于地下条件和含水层对自然和人为压力的反应的宝贵信息。我们使用来自堪萨斯州地质调查局的高平原含水层指数井网络的数据展示了可以从此类水文过程线中收集到的见解范围。我们展示了如何从这些水文过程线中提取有关含水层的水力状态和横向范围、补给的性质、与含水层和附近抽水井的水力连接以及对基于保护的抽水减少的预期响应的信息。此信息的价值取决于准确的水位测量值；这些测量中的错误可能导致难以充分利用水井水文过程线可以提供的见解。