The creation of the river authorities and Water Resources Board in 1965 and the Water Authorities, Water Research Centre and Central Water Planning Unit in 1974 led to an explosion of groundwater investigation and development in England and Wales. In Southern Water’s region, from the Hastings Beds of the Wealden Series to the Recent beach gravels at Dungeness, a dozen or so schemes were carried out to investigate and develop aquifers and manage their groundwater resources. Six schemes are described here, including artificial recharge in Sussex, groundwater augmentation in Hampshire and the assessment of saline contamination from minewater disposal in East Kent.