Field determination of the water balance of the Areuse River delta, Switzerland

Abstract

The water balance during a period of one year (15 October 1990-15 October 1991) was determined at an experimental site in the Areuse River delta (Switzerland). The groundwater recharge rates were found to be 36 and 33% of total precipitation according to evapotranspiration estimates based on the Primault (1962) and the Penman-Monteith methods, respectively. Variations in the water storage were obtained by weekly measurements with a neutron probe. Observed hydraulic gradients indicated a zero-flux plane between depths of 0.55 and 1.02 m that separated the infiltration zone from the zone of evapotranspiration in all seasons.