Groundwater is the water that soaks into the ground from rain and can be stored beneath the ground. An aquifer is a body of rock and/or sediment that holds groundwater. The process of rain filling up an aquifer is called ‘recharge’.

The Groundwater Recharge map shows the amount of rainfall which reaches the stores of groundwater (the ‘aquifers’) across Ireland. The amount of recharge was calculated over the period 1981-2010 and then averaged to give a yearly amount.

Geological information used to create the map includes soil drainage, subsoil type, subsoil permeability, subsoil thickness, groundwater vulnerability and aquifers. The amount of rain falling on the land minus how much of that rain is taken up by plants is also a factor that determines how much groundwater recharge there is at a particular location. This is known as the ‘effective rainfall’.

Different combinations of the geological factors give 24 hydrogeological scenarios. There is a ‘recharge coefficient’ for each scenario, which is the percentage of the ‘effective rainfall’ that may become groundwater recharge. All the information is interpreted by a hydrogeologist and using ArcGIS software the data is merged to create areas on a map to show the recharge. Please read the lineage for more detail.

This map is to the scale 1:40,000. This means it should be viewed at that scale. When printed at that scale 1cm on the map relates to a distance of 400m.

It is a vector dataset. Vector data portray the world using points, lines, and polygons (areas). The recharge data is shown as polygons. Each polygon holds information on:

• Recharge Unique ID – GSI ID

• Average Recharge (mm/yr) - average annual recharge to the groundwater aquifer across that polygon

• Hydrogeological Setting Code - determined by the combinations of different geological layers

• Hydrogeological Setting Description – the description of the main geological layers that combine to let different amounts of rainfall through to become groundwater

• Recharge Coefficient (%) – the proportion of effective rainfall that becomes groundwater

• Effective Rainfall (mm/yr) – the rainwater remaining after plants have taken up some of the rainfall

• Recharge Cap Apply – is there a maximum amount of recharge that the aquifer can accept? (Yes/ No)

• Maximum Recharge Capacity (mm/yr) – the maximum amount of recharge the aquifer can accept. Only applies to bedrock aquifers of category Ll, Pl, or Pu.

• Average Recharge (mm/yr) Pre-Cap – effective rainfall x recharge coefficient, not limited by maximum recharge capacities

• Soil Drainage – whether the soil is well drained or poorly drained

• Subsoil Category – the code for the subsoil type

• Subsoil Description – description of the subsoil type

• Peat – whether the soil is peat or not peat

• Sand/Gravel Subsoil – whether the subsoil is sand/gravel or not

• Subsoil Permeability Code - the code for the permeability of the subsoil

• Subsoil Permeability Description – description of the subsoil permeability

• Vulnerability Category – the code for the groundwater vulnerability

• Vulnerability Description – the groundwater vulnerability description

• Aquifer Category – the aquifer category code

• Aquifer Description – the aquifer category description

• Sand/Gravel Aquifer Category – whether there is a sand and gravel aquifer at this location

• Peat Area (m2) in Sand/Gravel Aquifer – the percentage area of a sand and gravel aquifer covered by peat

• Annual Recharge Range (mm/yr) - Annual Recharge (mm) categorised into a range of values used to style the map.

Groundwater is the water that soaks into the ground from rain and can be stored beneath the ground. An aquifer is a body of rock and/or sediment that holds groundwater. The process of rain filling up an aquifer is called ‘recharge’.

The Groundwater Recharge map shows the amount of rainfall which reaches the stores of groundwater (the ‘aquifers’) across Ireland. The amount of recharge was calculated over the period 1981-2010 and then averaged to give a yearly amount.

Geological information used to create the map includes soil drainage, subsoil type, subsoil permeability, subsoil thickness, groundwater vulnerability and aquifers. The amount of rain falling on the land minus how much of that rain is taken up by plants is also a factor that determines how much groundwater recharge there is at a particular location. This is known as the ‘effective rainfall’.

Different combinations of the geological factors give 24 hydrogeological scenarios. There is a ‘recharge coefficient’ for each scenario, which is the percentage of the ‘effective rainfall’ that may become groundwater recharge. All the information is interpreted by a hydrogeologist and using ArcGIS software the data is merged to create areas on a map to show the recharge. Please read the lineage for more detail.

This map is to the scale 1:40,000. This means it should be viewed at that scale. When printed at that scale 1cm on the map relates to a distance of 400m.

It is a vector dataset. Vector data portray the world using points, lines, and polygons (areas). The recharge data is shown as polygons. Each polygon holds information on:

• Recharge Unique ID – GSI ID

• Average Recharge (mm/yr) - average annual recharge to the groundwater aquifer across that polygon

• Hydrogeological Setting Code - determined by the combinations of different geological layers

• Hydrogeological Setting Description – the description of the main geological layers that combine to let different amounts of rainfall through to become groundwater

• Recharge Coefficient (%) – the proportion of effective rainfall that becomes groundwater

• Effective Rainfall (mm/yr) – the rainwater remaining after plants have taken up some of the rainfall

• Recharge Cap Apply – is there a maximum amount of recharge that the aquifer can accept? (Yes/ No)

• Maximum Recharge Capacity (mm/yr) – the maximum amount of recharge the aquifer can accept. Only applies to bedrock aquifers of category Ll, Pl, or Pu.

• Average Recharge (mm/yr) Pre-Cap – effective rainfall x recharge coefficient, not limited by maximum recharge capacities

• Soil Drainage – whether the soil is well drained or poorly drained

• Subsoil Category – the code for the subsoil type

• Subsoil Description – description of the subsoil type

• Peat – whether the soil is peat or not peat

• Sand/Gravel Subsoil – whether the subsoil is sand/gravel or not

• Subsoil Permeability Code - the code for the permeability of the subsoil

• Subsoil Permeability Description – description of the subsoil permeability

• Vulnerability Category – the code for the groundwater vulnerability

• Vulnerability Description – the groundwater vulnerability description

• Aquifer Category – the aquifer category code

• Aquifer Description – the aquifer category description

• Sand/Gravel Aquifer Category – whether there is a sand and gravel aquifer at this location

• Peat Area (m2) in Sand/Gravel Aquifer – the percentage area of a sand and gravel aquifer covered by peat

• Annual Recharge Range (mm/yr) - Annual Recharge (mm) categorised into a range of values used to style the map.