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by Turing_Machine 2995 days ago
> The aquifer likely refills at a much slower rate than the flow of the Muskegon River

No, most likely it does not. The watershed and the associated aquifer are where the river water comes from.

As to "what that assertion is based on", that would be "knowledge of how the hydrologic cycle works".

1 comments

> The watershed and the associated aquifer are where the river water comes from

Yes, that's where it comes from, but it doesn't fill up instantly. Depending on the depth and type of aquifer the well is tapping, it could actually take a very long time for the aquifer to refill (or it could refill very quickly).

Do such "fossil aquifers" exist? Yes.

Are they widely used in places like Michigan, where there is plenty of precipitation? No.

Rather than making blanket statements, here is the actual aquifer characteristics. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/wrd-nestle-attach-5-a... which is of course much more nuanced, and interesting than "it rains a lot".
Okay,fine. Where in that report does it say that the amount of water Nestle is proposing to pump will make a significant impact on the aquifer?

Hint: nowhere.