The maximum gradient is used to determine the direction of groundwater flow and is referred to as – grad h, with the negative sign indicating that groundwater flow is from high head to low head (Figure …

Jul 11, 2025 · This is a tool to help figure out where groundwater is going.

Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.

Objectives: Learn how to determine ground water flow direction, gradient, velocity and volume over time. Why are water levels measured? How to convert water levels to water elevations? How to plot water …

Estimates of the gradient and direction of groundwater flow can be made from a minimum of three monitoring wells with available measurements of groundwater elevations. The general procedure is …

Groundwater always flows downhill from areas with low amounts of groundwater to discharge points with high amounts of groundwater such as rivers, sea and valleys. However, to find the direction of flow is …

To first approximation, groundwater flows down-gradient (from high to low hydraulic head). As is the case with surface water, or a ball rolling down a hill, the water flows in the direction of the steepest …

Enter Heads at Spatial Locations to Compute Velocity, Direction, and Gradient in Confined or Unconfined Aquifer

As already noted, groundwater does not flow in straight lines. It flows from areas of higher hydraulic head to areas of lower hydraulic head, and this means that it can flow “uphill” in many situations.

The rate and direction of groundwater flow are notoriously complex and hard to understand. But the basic drivers are captured by this simple equation, known as Darcy’s Law.