Groundwater sustains the flow of streams and rivers when it's not raining. The groundwater component of a stream's flow is referred to as the baseflow or low flow.
Baseflow is important "for sustaining human centres of population and ecosystems."
It's important at Straitgate too. In one of the streams emanating from Straitgate, such flows sustain Cadhay’s mediaeval fish ponds and stop them from turning into a quagmire. In another stream, such flows sustain wetland habitats in ancient woodland:
The amount of baseflow is determined by groundwater levels. Professor Brassington's report pointed to the baseflows (in 1976/77 and 2000/01) from yet another of Straitgate’s streams – as a reason why Aggregate Industries’ model of the maximum water table at Straitgate Farm (based on the winters of 2013 and 2014) cannot be trusted.
Groundwater is important in sustaining streams and water sources during dry periods. Look at these recent tweets from the UK Groundwater Forum and the Environment Agency's Groundwater & Contaminated Land Team:
The contribution #groundwater makes to rivers helps maintain their flow in extended periods of dry weather when surface runoff virtually ceases. When winter rainfall recharge of #aquifers is below average then river flows are also low#NaturalCycle driven by weather pic.twitter.com/jVUY7xivWY— UK Groundwater Forum (@UKGWForum) June 14, 2019
Must see video explaining about #groundwater & challenges which we are faced with as a society with a changing #climate & #populationgrowth where water is needed for food production & #drinkingwater Important discussion about dry winters & what this means for our #WaterResources https://t.co/H6lIbEVPAb— Geoscience EnvAgency (@GeoscienceEA) June 17, 2019
Interested in learning about the importance of #groundwater, how it can influence river flow & why it needs protection? Check out our website https://t.co/3OeZlxI64j & download our e-book pic.twitter.com/6IFQhhrpER— UK Groundwater Forum (@UKGWForum) June 14, 2019
