Groundwater recharge or
deep drainage or
deep percolation is a
hydrologic process where
water moves downward from
surface water to
groundwater. Recharge is the primary method that water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs in the
vadose zone below plant
roots and is often expressed as a
flux to the
water table surface. Recharge occurs both naturally (through the
water cycle) and through anthropogenic processes (i.e., "artificial groundwater recharge"), where rainwater and or
reclaimed water is routed to the subsurface.