Summary Editorial: Impacts of global change on groundwater in Western Mediterranean countries

Calvache, María Luisa; Duque, Carlos; Pulido-Velázquez, David

doi:10.1007/s12665-020-09261-3

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Karstic aquifers comprise a few of the most productive aquifer and contribute considerably to water supplies in many regions of the world and supply between 20 to 25% of the global population [1]. In the western Mediterranean region, with semi-arid conditions, these aquifers are especially vulnerable to global climate changes [2] and can partly supply the current demand in many countries [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic and Chemical Tracing for Residence Time and Recharge Mechanisms of Groundwater under Semi-Arid Climate: Case from Rif Mountains (Northern Morocco)

et al. 2022

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Karstic aquifers play an important role for drinking and irrigation supply in Morocco. However, in some areas, a deeper understanding is needed in order to improve their sustainable management under global changes. Our study, based on chemical and isotopic investigation of 67 groundwater samples from the karst aquifer in the Rif Mountains, provides crucial information about the principal factors and processes influencing groundwater recharge and residence time. The δ18O and δ2H isotopic values indicate that the recharge is derived from meteoric water at high, intermediate, and low elevations for Lakraa Mountain, North of Lao River, and Haouz and Dersa Mountain aquifers, respectively. All samples show an isotopic signature from Atlantic Ocean except for those from the Lakraa Mountain aquifer, which shows Mediterranean Sea influence. Groundwater age determined by radiocarbon dating using the IAEA model indicates that the ages range from modern to 1460 years. This short residence time is consistent with the detectable tritium values (>2.7 TU) measured in groundwater. These values are similar to those of precipitation at the nearest GNIP stations of Gibraltar and Fez-Saiss, situated around 100 km north and 250 km south of the study area, respectively. This evidence indicates that groundwater in the Rif Mountains contains modern recharge (<60 years), testifying to significant renewability and the vulnerability of the hydrological system to climate variability and human activities. The results also indicate the efficiency of isotopic tracing in mountainous springs and would be helpful to decision makers for water in this karstic zone.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic and Chemical Tracing for Residence Time and Recharge Mechanisms of Groundwater under Semi-Arid Climate: Case from Rif Mountains (Northern Morocco)

et al. 2022

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“…Climate change affects hydrological systems, leading to altered precipitation patterns, changes in evapotranspiration rates and shifts in recharge conditions, among other factors. These changes can have significant impacts on water resources and ecosystems in the region 86 . Anthropogenic activities also play a significant role in influencing water systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A millennium-long perspective on recent groundwater changes in the Iberian Peninsula

Diodato,

Seim,

Ljungqvist

et al. 2024

Commun Earth Environ

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Groundwater dynamics are often overlooked within historical climatology because of their complexity and the influence of multiple factors. This study presents a groundwater model for Spain, using an existing tree-ring based summer drought reconstruction to estimate the groundwater depth in Castile and León (northwestern Spain) over the 1056–2020 CE period. Spanish groundwater volume fluctuations are found to be associated with quasi-decadal variations in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The reconstructed annual groundwater depth shows significant oscillations around a mean value of 123 m. Changes in groundwater depths include a wet medieval period ( ~ 1056–1200 CE), recurring megadroughts during parts of the Little Ice Age (~1471–1600 CE), and unprecedentedly large variations during recent decades. Aligning with previous studies for the Iberian Peninsula, our new modelling approach highlights the need to enhance groundwater resilience in anticipation of potentially worsening future drought trends across the Mediterranean.

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“…The most affected countries might be those where water resources are already at a critical level (Tramblay et al 2020) and their management is still today a critical issue (Zribi et al 2020). In southern Europe and North Africa, groundwater recharge and soil water content are expected to decline (Braca et al 2019;Calvache et al 2020), especially during summer, while river runoff, water levels in lakes, and availability of reservoirs are expected to decrease in many locations of the MB (Braca et al 2019;Marx et al 2018;Yeste et al 2021). The decline in water resources may cause several implications in terms of food and energy security, affecting agriculture sector, with significant losses in crop production (D'Odorico et al 2013;El-Nashar and Elyamany 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change in the Mediterranean Basin (Part II): A Review of Challenges and Uncertainties in Climate Change Modeling and Impact Analyses

Noto

Cipolla

Pumo

et al. 2023

Water Resour Manage

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The Mediterranean basin is particularly prone to climate change and vulnerable to its impacts. One of the most relevant consequences of climate change, especially for the southern Mediterranean regions, is certainly water scarcity as result of a reduction of surface runoff and groundwater levels. Despite the progress achieved in recent years in the field of climate change and its impact on water resources, results and outcomes should be treated with due caution since any future climate projection and derived implications are inevitably affected by a certain degree of uncertainty arising from each different stage of the entire modeling chain. This work offers a comprehensive overview of recent works on climate change in the Mediterranean basin, mainly focusing on the last ten years of research. Past and future trends on different components of the hydrological balance are discussed in a companion paper (Noto et al. 2022), while the present paper focuses on the problem of water availability and water scarcity. In addition, the work aims to discuss the most relevant sources of uncertainty related to climate change with the aim to gain awareness of climate change impact studies interpretation and reliability.

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Summary Editorial: Impacts of global change on groundwater in Western Mediterranean countries

Cited by 8 publications

References 34 publications

Isotopic and Chemical Tracing for Residence Time and Recharge Mechanisms of Groundwater under Semi-Arid Climate: Case from Rif Mountains (Northern Morocco)

Isotopic and Chemical Tracing for Residence Time and Recharge Mechanisms of Groundwater under Semi-Arid Climate: Case from Rif Mountains (Northern Morocco)

A millennium-long perspective on recent groundwater changes in the Iberian Peninsula

Climate Change in the Mediterranean Basin (Part II): A Review of Challenges and Uncertainties in Climate Change Modeling and Impact Analyses

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