Business / Agriculture / Aquifer: An underground geological formation, or group of formations, containing usable amounts of groundwater that can supply wells or springs for domestic, industrial, and irrigation uses. Removing more groundwater from an aquifer than is naturally replenished is called overdrafting, and can result in a dropping water table, increased pumping costs, land subsidence (which reduces the future recharge capacity), saltwater intrusion, reduced streamflows in interconnected ground- and surface-water systems, and exhaustion of groundwater reserves. Overdrafting groundwater occurs primarily in the Plains States and the West.
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Science / Geology / Aquifer (Confined): An aquifer that is bounded above and below by impermeable rock or sediment layers. There may or may not be enough pressure in the aquifer to make it an 'artesian aquifer'. MORE
Science / Geology / Aquifer (Artesian): An aquifer that is bounded above and below by impermeable rock or sediment layers. The water in the aquifer is also under enough pressure that, when the aquifer is tapped by a well, the water rises up MORE
Science / Geology / Aquifer (Unconfined): An aquifer that is not overlain by an impermeable rock unit. The water in this aquifer is under atmospheric pressure and is recharged by precipitation that falls on the land surface directly above the MORE