Effects of surface sediments on ground water recharge

Ground water recharge through water spreading was studied in the channel ot the Santa Ana River, Orange County, where riverbed gravels are apparently an outcrop of the Talbert formation. In sections of the channel where water was ponded, the intake values were reduced to approximately 2% of the intake in a section of the channel where the water was flowing, and which had no surface sediments. The average intake rate of the entire spreading area was about 1.2 acre-feet per day. The intake of the pond was 0.088 acre-feet per day per acre, and the intake of the channel with flowing water was 5.9 acre-feet per day.