This study is aimed to quantitatively evaluate the effects of drought on groundwater system in rural areas. For this purpose, the standardized groundwater level index (SGI) was used for 68 groundwater monitoring wells. To determine accumulation period (AP) which represents the month with the highest correlation coefficient between SGI and SPI, correlation analysis between the two for 68 wells were peformed. The results indicated the AP values ranged in 1~3 months for most of the well, but it was 7~10 months in some wells. These results can be interpreted such that the total amount of groundwater will not decrease significantly in long-term drought situations unlikely the reservoirs with the high AP values. The nationwide maximum AP values were 4.1 and 4.0 in Chungbuk-do and Gyeongnam-do, while the minimum AP values were 1.8 and 2.0 in Gangwon-do and Chungnam-do, respectively. The maximum and minimum values of correlation coefficient were 0.623 and 0.459 in Gyeongnam-do and Chungnam-do/Chungbuk-do, respectively. Consequently, it could be concluded that the wells with low AP value tend to respond to short-term drought, but it has little effect on groundwater system when the long drought occurs.

Keywords: Standardized groundwater level index (SGI);Standardized precipitation index (SPI);Drought;Groundwater system;Accumulation period (AP);