To solve a problem of water supply on urban areas, groundwater recharge has to be assessed not only for evaluating the possibility of groundwater development but also for identifying a sustainable aquifer system for water resource development. The assessment of groundwater recharge has been challenged since the land use has been changed constantly. In this study, the groundwater recharge and its ratio were assessed from 1961 to 2007 in Su-yeong-gu, Busan, South Korea by analyzing precipitation,

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... land use, and soil characteristics. For land use analysis, the urbanization change was considered. The land use areas for the residential, agricultural, forest, pasture, bare soil, and water in 1975 occupy 18.6 %, 30.0%, 48.8%, 0.1%, 2.0%, and 0.5% of total area, respectively. The land use ratios were sharply changed from 1980 to 1985; the agricultural area was decreased to 18.3%, and the residential area was increased to 15.0%. From 1995 to 2000, the agricultural area was decreased to 5.5%, and the residential area was increased to 5.4%. The annual averages of precipitation, groundwater recharge, and its ratio were 1509.3 mm, 216.0 mm, and 14.3% respectively. The largest amount of the groundwater recharge showed in 1970 as 408.9 mm, comparing to 2138.1 mm of annual rainfall. Also, the greatest ratio of the groundwater recharge was 19.8% in 1984 with 1492.6 mm of annual rainfall. The lowest amount and ratio of the groundwater recharge were 71.9 mm and 8.0% in 1988, relative to 901.5 mm of annual precipitation. As a result, it is concluded that rainfall has increased, whereas groundwater recharge has decreased between 1961 and 2007.