4.3  Flow-through Wetland

William W. Woessner

4.3 Flow-through Wetland

Flow-through wetlands occur when the water table is higher on one side of the wetland than the other side creating a gradient for water to enter and leave the wetland as illustrated by Figure 20 and Figure 36 by substituting the label wetland for stream and lake, respectively, and by Figure 46. Often these wetlands have no surface-water inlet or outlet. The wetland surface represents the elevation of the local water table.

**Figure 46 –** Schematic showing a wetland dominated by flow-through groundwater conditions. Equipotential lines and relative head values are in black. Groundwater flow lines are in blue. Isotropic and homogeneous conditions are assumed. Monitoring wells are open at the bottom. The wetland stage represents the water table elevation. a) A cross sectional view. b) A map view (Woessner, 2020).

A flow-through wetland may also form a depression spring where the water table intersects the land surface. In a spring setting, water exits the wetland as surface flow, down-slope groundwater discharge and/or is lost by evapotranspiration.

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