The rural area aquifer recharges its aquifer because the surface and layers above the aquifer are permeable.
Water can flow through the layers to recharge the aquifer. In the urban area, water is prevented from
recharging the aquifer because the surface is impermeable.
There was more evaporation in the urban area because there was more water on the surface. In the rural
area, the water could infiltrate the ground, but in the urban area, water was stuck on the impermeable
surface. The more water there is standing on the surface, the more likely is evaporation.
More people live in urban areas than live in rural areas. The aquifers beneath urban areas do not supply
enough water to meet the demands, so water is pumped from rural areas. Use the model to figure out hat
what this does to the rural aquifers?
Reset the model above.
Place two wells in the rural area:
one flowback well (this is the rural water supply) one non-flowback well (this is water removed for the city)
Place one non-flowback well in the urban area. This water is treated at a wastewater treatment plant
outside the city, so it does not discharge back into the urban area.
Run the model for at least five minutes.
Question: Based on the results of your experiment after five minutes how did
your aquifer change?
O Only the rural aquifer dropped.
Both aquifers dropped at the same rate.
O Both agifers dropped, but the urban aquifer dropped more.
O Both aquifers dropped, but the rural aquifer dropped more.
