Theory of flow in aquicludes adjacent to slightly leaky aquifers

The theory of flow in aquicludes that are adjacent to slightly leaky aquifers is presented for two cases: (a) aquicludes of finite thickness and (b) aquicludes of semi‐infinite thickness. By ‘slightly leaky’ we simply mean that when the aquifer is being pumped at constant rate, the drawdowns in the aquifer will be predicted by the Theis solution, even though some slight movement of water through adjacent confining beds occurs. It is assumed that flow is essentially horizontal in the aquifer and vertical in the aquiclude. On this basis, analytical expressions for drawdown in the aquiclude are developed for each case. The results are presented in the form of type curves that can be used for aquiclude evaluation. The effect of multiple‐well fields is considered in each case.