Das Projekt "Schneckenbach - Runoff formation and groundwater recharge in a mountains headwater catchment with pronounced anthropogenic land-use change" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. In the Schneckenbach catchment (annual precipitation 1800 mm, 800-1050 m asl, S facing) the planned construction of a large reservoir for power production will have a significant impact on the hydrology of the catchment. The recharge zone of several wells (some are collected for public water supply) will partly or completely covered by the technical construction of a reservoir on the top of a mountain. The groundwater recharge for this region has been assessed with different methods resulting in quite different numbers of annual groundwater recharge. Partly this discrepancy could be due to an underestimation of annual precipitation, partly due to different amounts of rainfall directly transformed into runoff during a storm. In this project we aim to better understand storm runoff formation and to assess groundwater recharge. Emphasis will be placed on anthropogenic impacts such as tunnel construction, land-surface change (forest to dam/road consisting of boulder /asphalt) and reduction of recharge zones.