“…Yearly cumulative percolation simulated with the calibrated groundwater fluctuation model corresponds to about 40% (±10% depending on the year) of the precipitation amount. Simulated percolation is yet generally lower (up to 30%) than the recharge rate estimated on the CPS area using the water table fluctuation analysis method (WTF, Healy and Cook, 2002) from 2000 to 2012 (Saprykin et al, 2015) (Table 4). Several reasons could explain this difference: the WTF method was applied on each single recharge event whereas the calibrated model tends to smooth some intra-annual variations of water table level; and simulated percolation could represent a net flow, which integrates plant uptakes, including from the saturated zone.…”