HESS Hydrology and Earth System Sciences HESS Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 1607-7938 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/hess-3-345-1999 Hydrological processes and water resources management in a dryland environment III: Groundwater recharge and recession in a shallow weathered aquifer Butterworth J. A. 1 5 6 Macdonald D. M. J. 2 Bromley J. 1 Simmonds L. P. 3 Lovell C. J. 1 Mugabe F. 4 Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK British Geological Survey, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK Department of Soil Science, University of Reading, UK Chiredzi Research Station, P.O. Box 97, Chiredzi, Zimbabwe Postal and e-mail address for corresponding author: john.butterworth@greenwich.ac.uk John Butterworth, National Resources Institutem Chatham Maritime, ME4 4TB 30 09 1999 3 3 345 351 Copyright: © 1999 J. A. Butterworth et al. 1999 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ This article is available from https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/3/345/1999/hess-3-345-1999.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/3/345/1999/hess-3-345-1999.pdf

In crystalline basement regions of Africa, shallow weathered aquifers provide vital water resources for rural communities. To quantify evidence of the behaviour of these shallow aquifers, groundwater levels were observed at a network of 65 boreholes within the Romwe Catchment in southern Zimbabwe. Soil moisture was monitored at selected sites.<br> Groundwater hydrographs showed considerable spatial and temporal variation. Where the soil profile was freely draining, groundwater levels typically responded within a few days of major rainstorms and large annual fluctuations in the water table of up to 7 m were recorded. In areas where a thick clay layer exists, annual fluctuations were smaller and groundwater levels rose more gradually in response to rainfall. In cultivated areas, vertical drainage was an important recharge mechanism. Groundwater hydrographs typically have an exponential recession and, by the end of the dry season in the years studied, levels were close to the base of the weathered aquifer. Variations in hydrograph response between years illustrate the importance of rainfall amount, intensity and distribution on groundwater recharge.