"Alan Gardiner"
A good test of groundwater levels around here is where the River Ver
starts to have water in it. Last winter it was flowing from Markyate which
is
close to the 'official' source. Currently it is dry until it reaches
Redbourn
golf course which is about 2 miles to the south so the replenishment of
the
groundwater levels has some way to go. I am sure this test could be
applied to many chalk streams.

How incredibly simple and effective.

In my village of Great Chishill - seemingly the source of most of the water
that subsequently flows into the North Sea - the gauge I use is how much of
the road in the village is covered by the semi-permanent puddle. One
winter, the local wag put up a sign "No Snorkelling". It is interesting
that although this village is the highest in Cambridgeshire, it is
incredibly soggy. My geologist wife tells me that the water table here is
so high as the chalk squeezes the aquifer and forces the water out the top.
I must say (going back to a much fitter youth) when I occasionally climbed
up a mountain in Scotland, I was surprised to find that the ground seemed to
be wetter (more boggy) the higher I went. I naively thought that water
always flowed downhill. I don't understand much about hydrology so I have
doubtless got hold of the wrong end of the stick somewhere.

Jack