Principal aquifer
High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Environmental Statement, Glossary, abbreviations and references, published by the Department for Transport in 2022, defines a principal aquifer as: ‘A subsurface layer or layers of rock or other geological strata of sufficient porosity and permeability to allow either a significant flow of groundwater or the abstraction of significant quantities of groundwater. These are layers of rock or drift deposits that have high intergranular and/or fracture permeability, meaning they usually provide a high level of water storage and transmission. They may support water supply and/or river base flow on a strategic scale and are considered by the Environment Agency to be critical to existing or future water supplies. In most cases, Principal aquifers are aquifers previously designated as major aquifers.’
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