Conceptual Framework for Protecting Groundwater Quality

Martínez-Navarrete, Carlos; Jiménez-Madrid, A.; Sánchez-Navarro, I.; Carrasco-Cantos, Francisco; Moreno-Merino, L.

doi:10.1080/07900627.2010.532476

Cited by 19 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Groundwater protection zones (GPZs method) were applied to catchments intended for human consumption in the Sierra de Cañete in the province of Malaga, Spain [1,2]. The objective was to use hydro-chemical and isotopic data to support other techniques applied to define zones of contribution to catchments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of Hydro-Chemical and Isotopic Tools to Improve Definitions of Groundwater Catchment Zones in a Karstic Aquifer: A Case Study

Jiménez-Madrid

Castaño

Vadillo

et al. 2017

Water

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Some researchers have proposed the groundwater protection zone (GPZ) method as a methodological framework for defining safeguard zones of groundwater bodies. Its goal is to protect the quality of water intended for human consumption and to facilitate a common implementation of this method in all European Union member states. One of the criteria used to establish GPZs is to define contributing catchment areas (CCAs). This methodology has been applied to the Sierra de Cañete, a region comprising a carbonate aquifer in the province of Malaga, Spain. The tools used to define CCAs are hydro-chemical and isotopic characterizations, namely water isotopes (i.e., 2 H, 18 O and tritium) and the isotopes of dissolved sulfates (i.e., 34 S and 18 O). Traditionally, the Sierra de Cañete aquifer has been divided into six sectors. Hydro-chemical and isotopic characterization differentiated between two large areas in the carbonate aquifer. The southern part presents younger water that is the result of faster recharge and that shows a high level of karstification, while the northern area has a slower flow, and recharge is produced over several years. In addition, the northern part is hydraulically connected to an alluvial aquifer (i.e., Llanos de Almargen) that borders the Sierra de Cañete to the north. This aquifer has high levels of pollution due to agricultural and livestock activities carried out in the Llanos de Almargen area. This pollution is transmitted to the carbonate aquifer when groundwater depletion occurs. Therefore, the Sierra de Cañete GPZ needs to be extended to include the Llanos de Almargen aquifer.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of Hydro-Chemical and Isotopic Tools to Improve Definitions of Groundwater Catchment Zones in a Karstic Aquifer: A Case Study

Jiménez-Madrid

Castaño

Vadillo

et al. 2017

Water

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“…They are therefore equivalent to wellhead protection areas for groundwater bodies intended for human consumption. Martı ´nez-Navarrete et al (2011) propose an initial methodological approach to delineate these areas.…”

Section: Safeguard Zonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protection of groundwater intended for human consumption: a proposed methodology for defining safeguard zones

2011

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Carbonate aquifers constitute a water reserve of essential importance for human supply. For this, it is necessary to establish suitable protection measures in order to achieve the good status of groundwater bodies intended for human supply according to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. The objective of this paper is to present a methodology to define safeguard zones for the protection of carbonate groundwater bodies intended for human consumption. To do this, firstly the risk of groundwater contamination is evaluated through a combination of characterising pressures and the evaluation of the intrinsic vulnerability to contamination. Secondly, the existing water abstraction points are identified and their zones of contribution are delineated in order to establish priorities when defining protective measures in the region. Finally, the existing wellhead protection areas and those defined according to the proposed methodology must be integrated into the delineated safeguard zones. The results obtained in a carbonate groundwater body in southern Spain are consistent with the existing quality data and they show the percentage of land that must be protected to preserve the quality of water intended for human consumption, thus facilitating their future integration into adequate land use planning tools.

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“…In France, the water agencies have been in charge of this inventory and of the mapping of GWB, which are now listed and regularly updated in the French reference system for groundwater bodies [18]. However, due to the number of GWBs, the development of specific standards or guidelines for the use or protection of each GWB [19] cannot be managed by the regional health agencies that are responsible for quality control and compliance for human consumption. Therefore, the issue of aggregating these GWBs into larger, homogeneous spatial units is critical in terms of management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Search for a Relevant Scale to Optimize the Quality Monitoring of Groundwater Bodies in the Occitanie Region (France)

et al. 2023

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In France, and more generally in Europe, the high number of groundwater bodies (GWB) per administrative region is an obstacle for the management and monitoring of water for human consumption by regional health agencies. Moreover, GWBs show a high spatial, temporal, physico-chemical, and bacteriological variability. The objective is to establish homogeneous groupings of GWB from the point of view of water quality and the processes responsible for this quality. In the Occitanie region in southwestern France, the cross-referencing of two databases, namely the French reference system for groundwater bodies and SISE-EAUX, provided a dataset of 8110 observations and 15 parameters distributed over 106 GWB. The 8-step approach, including data conditioning, dimensional reduction by Principal Component Analysis, and hierarchical clustering, resulted in 20 homogeneous groups of GWB over the whole region. The loss of information caused by this grouping is quantified by the evolution of the explained variance. Splitting the region into two large basins (Adour-Garonne and Rhône Méditerranée) according to the recommendations of the European community does not result in a significant additional loss of information contained in the data. A quick study of a few groups allows to highlight the specificities of each one, thus enabling targeted guidelines or recommendations for water quality management and monitoring. In the future, the method will have to be tested on the scale of large European watersheds, as well as in the context of an increase in the number of parameters.

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Conceptual Framework for Protecting Groundwater Quality

Cited by 19 publications

References 14 publications

Applications of Hydro-Chemical and Isotopic Tools to Improve Definitions of Groundwater Catchment Zones in a Karstic Aquifer: A Case Study

Applications of Hydro-Chemical and Isotopic Tools to Improve Definitions of Groundwater Catchment Zones in a Karstic Aquifer: A Case Study

Protection of groundwater intended for human consumption: a proposed methodology for defining safeguard zones

Search for a Relevant Scale to Optimize the Quality Monitoring of Groundwater Bodies in the Occitanie Region (France)

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