Title: Rising groundwater levels in the chalk-basal sands aquifer of the Central London basin : April 2000
Author: Environment Agency
Document Type: Monograph
Abstract:
This 2000 report is the ninth annual report that the Environment Agency (and previously the National Rivers Authority) has produced on rising groundwater levels in the Chalk aquifer beneath London. The rising groundwater levels are the result of a significant reduction in abstraction from the Chalk aquifer beneath London since the mid-1960s. Prior to this the Chalk aquifer had been increasingly exploited through the development of groundwater sources during the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. By the time abstraction peaked in the 1960s, groundwater levels below central London had dropped to 98 metres below sea-level, creating a large depression in the water-table. The subsequent reduction in abstraction has resulted in groundwater levels recovering by as much as 3 metres per year in places, and has led to a gradual re-filling of the water-table depression. The consequences of rising groundwater have been discussed in detail in previous reports. The extent to which the stability of buildings and tunnels could be compromised by continuing resaturation of the Chalk and London Clay has not been quantified, but the potential disruption and damage is such to merit preventative action.
Publisher: Environment Agency
Publication Date: 2000
Publication Place: Bristol
Subject Keywords: Groundwater; Groundwater monitoring; Water levels; Aquifers; Annual reports; Water abstraction
Geographic Keywords: EA South East; London catchment
Extent: n.p. [24]
Permalink: http://www.environmentdata.org/archive/ealit:2092
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