ABSTRACT: The groundwater balance is based on the principle that the water entering and leaving any aquifer considered to be equal over a certain time interval, taking in to account the change in the storage. Groundwater, a renewable resource, is quite complicated in its balances, as the equilibrium conditions take place in very long periods. Surface waters are directly related to current recharge and discharge, while circulating groundwater, is in a different age and even in different climatic conditions in the system and complicate this relationship. Accountings of all the inflows, outflows, and including changes in the future, are called a groundwater budget. Sustainable groundwater management until the 1950s was made with the understanding that the groundwater discharge should not exceed the natural recharge and the permission for groundwater withdrawal is still given by State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) with the same approach. Since the 1980s, this approach has been declared legendary, and the calculation of water retained from discharge and recharge has come to an approach that ignores the recharge. The truth is an approach that takes in to account the decreased discharge and increased recharge in addition to recharge. For a sustainable groundwater development, the well locations should be selected with an approach that takes in to account the increased recharge and decreased discharge. The rate of groundwater removal should be defined by the long-term balance between recharge and discharge, and the capture rate from discharge must be defined by taking in to account the long-term environmental impacts. With this study, discussions were evaluated and the importance of the groundwater budget was emphasized in sustainable groundwater management