In 1905, N. H. Darton described the geology and underground‐water resources of the central Great Plains in his classic report that emphasized the importance of the Dakota aquifer to this region of the United States. Since Darton's work, many investigators have studied Dakota‐aquifer hydrology with regard to development of local or statewide resources. Preliminary mapping of relatively recent fluid‐level data by the U.S. Geological Survey indicates regional potentiometric trends similar to those interpreted by Darton, but altitudes substantially lower in part of the area. The classic artesian‐system concept of the Dakota aquifer is not consistent with some of the data and observations of the past several decades. The simple aquifer geometry and effective lateral hydraulic continuity normally associated with that concept do not appear to characterize the Dakota aquifer regionally.

The Dakota aquifer, composed of the Dakota Sandstone and stratigraphically equivalent sandstone units of Cretaceous age, is the upper‐most regional aquifer underlying the extensively developed High Plains aquifer of the midwestern United States. The concentration of dissolved solids in ground water of the Dakota aquifer ranges from less than 500 milligrams per liter in calcium bicarbonate type water in the eastern outcrop area to more than 100,000 milligrams per liter in sodium chloride type oilfield brine in the Denver Basin to the west. Preliminary maps showing the distribution of dissolved solids confirm the complex nature of the Dakota aquifer as inferred from stratigraphic and hydraulic evidence. Extensive vertical leakage through confining layers, local recharge at the truncated eastern boundary, and a barrier to recharge along the western edge of the Denver Basin are consistent with the distribution of hydraulic head and dissolved solids.

Three regional aquifer systems were investigated in a 370,000-square-mile area extending from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to the Mississippi River in eastern Missouri, and from South Dakota to mountainous parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma. These aquifer systems and internal confining systems are composed of sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Cambrian through Cretaceous. The study area is informally divided into the Plains subregion and Ozark subregion. Al A2 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS CENTRAL MIDWEST aquifer system was simulated. Pumping rates are small compared to the large natural rates of recharge and discharge.

The largest potential reservoir for the storage of potable water is in the unsaturated zone. Use of this space for the storage and retrieval of potable water is a multifaceted problem which requires application of the best talent from the scientific community. Artificial recharge has many similarities to liquidwaste disposal through deep wells. In both, the problem is to place liquid in a permeable lithologic unit at an economic rate, to predict movement and the chemical reactions and physical changes that take place while the liquid is in the reservoir. Differences between the two operations are principally in the type of fluid injected and the ultimate objective. In artificial recharge the objective is to store and retrieve water of good quality; in waste disposal the objective is to store permanently water of objectionable quality. In both artificial recharge and liquid‐waste storage, the nature of the storage must be known, particularly that of the unsaturated zone. The techniques of investigation for recharge and waste disposal are generally the same. Water commonly is recharged by surface spreading through basins or by induced recharge from adjacent streams and lakes or through injection wells. Research in recharge through basins has been dominated by mathematical models based on idealized conditions and empirical relations, derived by experimental sequencing of recharge operations, and operational controls in the pretreatment of recharge water. Recharge by injection wells has been undertaken in a variety of hydrologic environments. In Israel efforts have been directed toward the analyses of diffusion and dispersion of the injected water. Much research in the United States has been directed toward the movement of bacteria and organic matter through an aquifer and toward the chemical modeling of changes in recharged water as it moves. Much more research is needed on the basic properties of aquifers, particularly in the unsaturated zone, and on all aspects of recharge‐water quality. Research and the use of data produced are increasingly the responsibility of interdisciplinary teams which consider the geologic, hydraulic, and economic aspects of the system.