{"id":824,"date":"2026-02-13T22:26:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T22:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/front-matter\/ch004-xhtml\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T14:51:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:51:32","slug":"foreword","status":"publish","type":"front-matter","link":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/front-matter\/foreword\/","title":{"raw":"Foreword","rendered":"Foreword"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n\r\nThe subject matter of this book, hydraulic testing, is foundational to nearly all groundwater investigations because the tests provide values of transmissivity (which can be used to estimate hydraulic conductivity). Hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head are the two most important parameters in groundwater science. When conducted under transient conditions, hydraulic tests also provide values for storativity or specific yield.\r\n\r\nHydraulic testing involves estimating values of hydraulic parameters\u2014primarily hydraulic conductivity\u2014from field observations of changes in hydraulic head. These changes result from withdrawal or injection of water at measured rates out of or into boreholes in geologic media. This parameter estimation process is underpinned by mathematical models representing head changes in response to withdrawal or injection of water. Conditions in the field always have complexity that cannot be represented fully in the models. Thus, conceptualizations of hydrogeologic conditions need to be simplified to develop mathematical solutions. Given these simplifications, the parameter values obtained from the process are appropriately regarded as estimated, not measured, values in the normal use of the word \u2018measurement\u2019.\r\n\r\nIt is common for the assumptions underlying the model simplifications to be overlooked such that inappropriate models are applied to test data resulting in poor estimates of the parameters. This book provides clear concise explanations that can help groundwater professionals avoid misapplying models to hydraulic test data.\r\n\r\nThe extraction of parameter values from hydraulic tests involves uncertainty and those who become experts in this endeavor, which is a combination of art and science, have accumulated valuable experience in interpreting hydraulic test results. This book introduces the most important mathematical models that are the heart of hydraulic testing in groundwater practice. In addition, it provides guidance on designing hydraulic tests. All the concepts related to hydraulic testing are expressed in diagrams to facilitate visualization of hydrogeologic conditions and in graphs to illustrate system response to hydraulic testing.\r\n\r\nThe authors of this book, William Woessner, Emerita Regents\u2019 Professor of Hydrogeology, University of Montana, A. Campbell Stringer, Principal Hydrogeologist, NewFields, Montana, and Eileen Poeter, Emerita Professor of Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines bring over 60 years of academic teaching and research experience, and a combined 90 years of applied hydrogeology consulting to the production of this book.\r\n\r\nJohn Cherry, The Groundwater Project Leader\r\n\r\nGuelph, Ontario, Canada, September 2023\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
\n

The subject matter of this book, hydraulic testing, is foundational to nearly all groundwater investigations because the tests provide values of transmissivity (which can be used to estimate hydraulic conductivity). Hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head are the two most important parameters in groundwater science. When conducted under transient conditions, hydraulic tests also provide values for storativity or specific yield.<\/p>\n

Hydraulic testing involves estimating values of hydraulic parameters\u2014primarily hydraulic conductivity\u2014from field observations of changes in hydraulic head. These changes result from withdrawal or injection of water at measured rates out of or into boreholes in geologic media. This parameter estimation process is underpinned by mathematical models representing head changes in response to withdrawal or injection of water. Conditions in the field always have complexity that cannot be represented fully in the models. Thus, conceptualizations of hydrogeologic conditions need to be simplified to develop mathematical solutions. Given these simplifications, the parameter values obtained from the process are appropriately regarded as estimated, not measured, values in the normal use of the word \u2018measurement\u2019.<\/p>\n

It is common for the assumptions underlying the model simplifications to be overlooked such that inappropriate models are applied to test data resulting in poor estimates of the parameters. This book provides clear concise explanations that can help groundwater professionals avoid misapplying models to hydraulic test data.<\/p>\n

The extraction of parameter values from hydraulic tests involves uncertainty and those who become experts in this endeavor, which is a combination of art and science, have accumulated valuable experience in interpreting hydraulic test results. This book introduces the most important mathematical models that are the heart of hydraulic testing in groundwater practice. In addition, it provides guidance on designing hydraulic tests. All the concepts related to hydraulic testing are expressed in diagrams to facilitate visualization of hydrogeologic conditions and in graphs to illustrate system response to hydraulic testing.<\/p>\n

The authors of this book, William Woessner, Emerita Regents\u2019 Professor of Hydrogeology, University of Montana, A. Campbell Stringer, Principal Hydrogeologist, NewFields, Montana, and Eileen Poeter, Emerita Professor of Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines bring over 60 years of academic teaching and research experience, and a combined 90 years of applied hydrogeology consulting to the production of this book.<\/p>\n

John Cherry, The Groundwater Project Leader<\/p>\n

Guelph, Ontario, Canada, September 2023<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"front-matter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-824","front-matter","type-front-matter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter\/824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/front-matter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter\/824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4170,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter\/824\/revisions\/4170"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter\/824\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"front-matter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter-type?post=824"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=824"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/an-introduction-to-hydraulic-testing-in-hydrogeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}