Also notice that evapotranspiration does not change, since the time of year and land cover stays the same. 5.Effects of GW Discharge Rate Finally, experiment with different groundwater discharge rates. Notice that varying these values only change the groundwater flow and storage. A faster discharge rate causes more groundwater water to discharge to the streams and causes a larger storage decrease. The time of the year will have varying effects in groundwater flow, due to water uptake by plants and snow pack formation.
Seasonal weather can greatly impact groundwater flow.
During dry months, almost all stream flow will come from the groundwater, often drastically decreasing groundwater storage. In wet months, a smaller portion of stream flow comes from groundwater flow. However, it is expected that the overall groundwater flow will be greater than in dry months when there is less precipitation. Land covers with vegetation that use more water will decrease groundwater flow. Groundwater flow will be less for finer textured soils, which allow less infiltration.