Reply to Discussion on ‘Review of groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling approaches for the Sherwood Sandstone Aquifer, UK; insights from analogous successions worldwide’ by Medici and West ( QJEGH , 55, qjegh2021-176)

Sandstone aquifers are challenging to characterize, model and review due to interplays between intergranular porosities, narrow fractures and rock discontinuities enlarged by the groundwater flow (Tellam and Barker 2006; Hitchmough et al. 2007, Bashar and Tellam 2011, Medici et al. 2019). New data collected, and advances in hydraulic testing and modelling techniques should guide the next steps on research on sandstone aquifers worldwide. The contribution of Medici and West (2022) is intended to point the hydrogeological community towards more novel modelling approaches that need to be integrated with all the previous practices for the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer, that have mostly focussed on the Equivalent Porous Medium (EPM), as this is the most widely accepted and practical solution. The focus of the review paper is thus novel approaches to modelling of the flow heterogeneities of the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer as a consequence of a hydraulic characterization project funded by TotalEnergies, which was specific to the Triassic comprising the Sherwood Sandstone Group rather than Permian strata. The flow heterogeneities of sedimentary origin and tectonic origin have also been reviewed in the UK Triassic Sandstone with no angle on groundwater flow modelling (Medici et al. 2019a, b).