The UNL Conservation and Survey Division has estimated Nebraska has 2 billion acre-feet of groundwater in storage, or approximately 25 times the state's average annual precipitation. If all the water stored as groundwater in Nebraska were removed, it would cover the state with approximately 40 feet of water. More information on Nebraska's groundwater resources is presented in The Groundwater Atlas of Nebraska , published by the University of Nebraska Conservation and Survey Division. Additional information may be obtained from your Natural Resources District. To understand how we can remove groundwater using wells, we must understand how groundwater moves.
Some people attempt to associate the flow of water on the earth's surface with groundwater movement.
However, one major difference between groundwater and surface water movement is the average water flow velocity. Confined and unconfined aquifers and related water tables. Surface water flows in rivers or streams at velocities of 2-8 miles per hour. Nebraska's groundwater moves through the spaces between particles of a saturated material at rates between 0.1 foot per day to 3 feet per day. That translates into movement of 35 to 1,100 feet per year.