2007 Ground Water Summit

Wednesday, May 2, 2007 : 1:40 p.m.

Climate Change, Recharge, Extraction, and Population in the Edwards Aquifer, Texas

Hugo A. Loaiciga, Ph.D. and James Wolf, University of California

The Edwards Balcones Fault Zone is one of the largest and most productive karst aquifers in the United States, and in the world. It features recharge predominantly from stream seepage through its outcrop area. From there, groundwater flows mostly confined in a general south and easterly direction to discharge in a series of fault-controlled springs. This paper presents (1) a statistical analysis and fitted probability density function to annual recharge in the Edwards Aquifer for the period 1934-2005; (2) relative impacts of groundwater extraction and changes in recharge induced by climate change on the aquifer’s water resources. Recommended rates of extraction as a function of climatic conditions are identified and explained.

Hugo A. Loaiciga, Ph.D., University of California Professor of Geography, specialty: Hydrology and Water Resources, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, California; B.Sc. University of Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica; M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, California.


The 2007 Ground Water Summit