"Jack Harrison" wrote in message
...

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.

Have a look at artesian wells, which work on that principle.
--
Terry Harper
http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/