Model-based assessment of groundwater recharge in Slovenia

The FAIRWAY project reviewed approaches for protecting drinking water from nitrate and pesticide pollution. A comprehensive assessment of decision support tools (DSTs) used by farmers, advisors, water managers and policy makers across the European Union as an aid to meeting CAP objectives and targets was undertaken, encompassing paper-based guidelines, farm-level and catchment level software, and complex research models. More than 150 DSTs were identified, with 36 ranked for further investigation based on how widely they were used and/or their potential relevance to the FAIRWAY case studies. Of those, most were farm management tools promoting smart nutrient/pesticide use, with only three explicitly considering the impact of mitigation methods on water quality. Following demonstration and evaluation, 12 DSTs were selected for practical testing at nine diverse case study sites, based on their pertinence to local challenges and scales of interest. Barriers to DST exchange between member states were identified and information was collected about user requirements and attitudes. Key obstacles to exchange include differences in legislation, advisory frameworks, country-specific data and calibration requirements, geo-climate and issues around language. Notably, DSTs from different countries using the same input data sometimes delivered very different results. Whilst many countries have developed DSTs to address similar problems, all case study participants were able to draw inspiration from elsewhere. The support and advice provided by skilled advisors was highly valued, empowering end users to most effectively use DST outputs.

Section: Commentary On Dst Uptake and Usagementioning

confidence: 99%

How Can Decision Support Tools Help Reduce Nitrate and Pesticide Pollution from Agriculture? A Literature Review and Practical Insights from the EU FAIRWAY Project

Nicholson

Laursen

Cassidy

et al. 2020

“…GROWA conceptually combines distributed meteorological data (precipitation and potential evapotranspiration) with distributed site parameters (land use, soil properties, slope gradient and exposure, mean depth to groundwater) to calculate long-term annual averages of water-balance components [14]. During the last 17 years, GROWA has been applied and successfully used for various water management issues at different scales, from national, i.e., in Lower Saxony [15], Hamburg Metropolitan Region [16], North Rhine-Westphalia [14], etc., to international, i.e., Greece [17] and Slovenia [18].…”

Section: Average Annual Discharge Modeled With Growamentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing a Statewide Deficit Analysis for Inland Surface Waters According to the Water Framework Directive—An Exemplary Application on Phosphorus Pollution in Schleswig-Holstein (Northern Germany)

Tetzlaff

Trepel

et al. 2020

Self Cite

Deficit analysis—which principally deals with the question “how big are the gaps between current water status and good ecological status?”—has become an essential element of the river basin management plans prescribed by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). In a research project on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization Schleswig-Holstein (MELUND), a deficit analysis based on distributed results from the water balance and phosphorus emission model system GROWA-MEPhos at high spatial resolution was performed. The aim was, inter alia, to identify absolute and relative required reduction in total phosphorus at any river segment or lake within the state territory as well as to highlight significant emission sources. The results of the deficit analysis were successfully validated and show an exceedance of the phosphorus target concentrations in 60% of the analyzed subcatchments. Statewide, 269 tons of phosphorus needs to be reduced yearly, which corresponds to approximately 31% of the total emission. Detailed data as well as maps generated by the deficit analysis benefit the planning and implementation of regionally efficient measures, which are indispensable with regard to meeting the environmental quality objectives set by the WFD.

“…Then, baseflow indices are given for single model grid cells of a groundwater recharge model depending the geological information. This practice has had successful application in Germany [11], Turkey [36], Slovenia [37], Greece [38], and Cameroon [39], yielding realistic groundwater recharge values. Figure 3 shows the base flow index (BFI) methodology applied in mGROWA for simulating the groundwater recharge in the Ergene catchment.…”

Section: Water Balance Modelling Based On the Mgrowa Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant Influencing Factors of Groundwater Recharge Spatial Patterns in Ergene River Catchment, Turkey

Rukundo

Doğan

2019

Groundwater is of great significance in sustaining life on planet earth. The reliable estimation of groundwater recharge is the key understanding the groundwater reservoir and forecasting its potential accessibility. The main objective of this study was to assess the groundwater recharge and its controlling factors at the Ergene river catchment. A grid-based water balance model was adopted to determine the spatially distributed long-term groundwater recharge and other water budget components, relying upon the hydro-climatic variables, land-use, soil, geology, and relief of the investigated area. The model calculations were performed for the hydrological reference horizon of 20 years at a spatial resolution of 100 × 100 m. The base flow index (BFI) separation concept was applied to split up the simulated total runoff into groundwater recharge and direct runoff. Subsequently, the statistical methods of Pearson product–moment correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) were combined for identifying the dominant catchment and meteorological factors influencing the recharge. The average groundwater recharge over the investigated area amounts to 95 mm/year. The model validation and statistical analysis indicate that the difference between simulated and observed total runoff and recharge values is generally under 20% and no significant inconsistency was observed. PCA indicated that recharge is controlled, in order of significance, by land-use, soil, and climate variables. The findings of this research highlight the key role of spatial variables in recharge determination. In addition, the generated outputs may contribute to groundwater resource management in the Ergene river catchment.