Rapid groundwater responses were studied by experiments and numerical analysis. With numerical techniques, it is possible to accurately predict the behavior of an idealized unconfined aquifer under varying conditions of water table slope and localized infiltration. The study was conducted by comparing the results of the finite difference solution of the Boussinesq equation to data collected from a Hele-Shaw viscous flow model. The agreement between the experimental and numerically generated water-surface profiles was quite good when the water table was mildly sloped, but this agreement became weaker as the slope was increased.