Karst and karst groundwater resources in the Mediterranean

2015 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Bakalowicz
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Karst Groundwater ◽  
The Mediterranean

Karst groundwater resources in the countries of eastern Mediterranean: the example of Lebanon

2007 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Bakalowicz ◽  
Massaad El Hakim ◽  
Ahmad El-Hajj
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Karst Groundwater

Groundwater and salinization risk: tapping works and management experience in the Mediterranean Area

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio De Giorgio ◽  
Livia Emanuela Zuffianò ◽  
Maurizio Polemio
Keyword(s):  
Seawater Intrusion ◽  
Coastal Aquifers ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Fresh Groundwater ◽  
Groundwater Exploitation ◽  
Saline Groundwater ◽  
The Mediterranean

<p>The progressive population growth in coastal areas constitutes a huge worldwide problem, particularly relevant for coastal aquifers of the Mediterranean basin.</p><p>The increasing use of groundwater and the effect of seawater intrusion makes the study of coastal aquifers extremely relevant.</p><p>There are various measures, practices, and actions throughout the world for managing groundwater when this natural resource is subject to salinization risk.</p><p>This research focused on the seawater intrusion, classifies the different practical solutions protecting the groundwater through salinization mitigation and/or groundwater salinity improvements along the Mediterranean Area.</p><p>The literature review was based on 300 papers, which are mainly international journal articles (76%). The rest includes conference papers (11.8%), reports and theses (7%), and books or chapters of a book (25%).</p><p>Three main schematic groundwater management approaches can be distinguished for the use of groundwater resources at risk of salinization.</p><p>The <strong>engineering approaches</strong> pursue locally the discharge increase avoiding or controlling the salinity increase.</p><p>The most recent experiences of tapping submarine springs were realized using underground concrete dams, tools shaped like a parachute or tulip, or a fiberglass telescopic tube-bell, especially in the case of karstic aquifers.</p><p>The current widespread form of the engineering approach is to address the issue of groundwater exploitation by wells.</p><p>More complex solutions use subhorizontal designs. Subhorizontal tapping schemes were realized using tunneling and/or boring in combination with wide-diameter wells or shafts.</p><p>These works include horizontal drains or radial tunnels bored inside the saturated aquifer, shafts excavated down to the sea level with radial galleries or drains realized together with weirs to improve the regulation of the discharge rate and of salinization. Application of these solutions in areas where a thin fresh groundwater lens floats on the saline groundwater, as in the case of narrow and highly permeable islands, can yield high discharges, thus causing a very low drawdown over very wide areas. These solutions were successfully applied in Malta Islands.</p><p>The <strong>discharge management approach</strong> encompasses at least an entire coastal aquifer and defines rules concerning groundwater utilization and well discharge.</p><p>A multi-methodological approach based on monitoring networks, spatiotemporal analysis of groundwater quality changes, and multiparameter well logging is described in Apulian karstic coastal aquifers (Italy). The core is the definition of the salinity threshold value between pure fresh groundwater and saline groundwater mixture. The basic tools were defined to be simple and cost-effective to be applicable to the widest range of situations.</p><p>The <strong>water and land management approach</strong> should be applied on a regional scale. The main choice for this approach is pursuing water-saving measures and water demand adaptation. A multiple-users and multiple-resources-water supply system model was implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of the increasing maximum capacity of the surface reservoir and managed aquifer recharge in Apulia, a semi-arid region of Southern Italy.</p>

Climate change induced modifications of hydro-meteorological extreme events and their impacts on water resources for agriculture in the Mediterranean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athanasios Loukas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Hydrological Variable ◽  
Change In The Mean ◽  
Change Impact ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Mediterranean

<p>It is common today to consider that climate is expected to change or even climate change is present and evident.  A changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration, and timing of climate extremes, and may result in unprecedented events. Changes in extremes of a climate variable are not always related in a simple way to changes in the mean of the same variable or a hydrological variable, and in some cases may be of opposite sign to a change in the mean of the variable.  Also, the changes vary from one geographical region to another.   In this review paper, examples of climate change impact studies on hydro-meteorological extremes, i.e. extreme precipitation, floods and droughts, in the Mediterranean region, are presented and discussed.  In this geographical area, agriculture is the main consumer of water, demanding 60-90% of the total water use. The impacts of the climate change induced modifications of hydro-meteorological extremes and water management practices on the availability of surface water and groundwater resources are also discussed.</p>

Management of Karst Groundwater Resources

2011 ◽  
pp. 263-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Bakalowicz
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Karst Groundwater

scholarly journals The Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus in the Mediterranean: Current Issues and Future Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ad De Roo ◽  
Ioannis Trichakis ◽  
Berny Bisselink ◽  
Emiliano Gelati ◽  
Alberto Pistocchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Wastewater Reuse ◽  
Irrigation Efficiency ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
The Mediterranean

The Mediterranean is an area where the balance between water demand and abstractions vs. water availability is often under stress already, as demonstrated here with the Water Exploitation Index. In this work, model estimates on how different proposed measures for water resources management would affect different indicators. After a review of the current water resources status in the Mediterranean and the definition of indicators used in this study, aspects interlinked with water in the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems Nexus are briefly discussed, focusing on problems linked with water scarcity and depletion of groundwater resources as well as with climate change projections. Subsequently, the proposed measures for water efficiency are detailed—irrigation efficiency, urban water efficiency, water reuse and desalination—that might be effective to reduce the growing water scarcity problems in the Mediterranean. Their effects that result from the LISFLOOD model, show that wastewater reuse, desalination and water supply leakage reduction lead to decreased abstractions, but do not affect net water consumption. Increased irrigation efficiency does decrease consumption and reduces abstractions as well. We deduct however that the current envisaged water efficiency measures might not be sufficient to keep up with the pace of diminishing water availability due to climate change. More ambition is needed on water efficiency in the Mediterranean to keep water scarcity at bay.

scholarly journals Utilizing Precipitation and Spring Discharge Data to Identify Groundwater Quick Flow Belts in a Karst Spring Catchment

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2057-2068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lixing An ◽  
Xingyuan Ren ◽  
Yonghong Hao ◽  
Tian-Chyi Jim Yeh ◽  
Baoju Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Spring Discharge ◽  
Karst Groundwater ◽  
Karst Spring ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Discharge Data ◽  
Spring Catchment ◽  
Hydraulic Response

Abstract In karst terrains, fractures and conduits often occur in clusters, forming groundwater quick flow belts, which are the major passages of groundwater and solute transport. We propose a cost-effective method that utilizes precipitation and spring discharge data to identify groundwater quick flow belts by the multitaper method (MTM). In this paper, hydrological processes were regarded as the transformation of precipitation signals to spring discharge signals in a karst spring catchment. During the processes, karst aquifers played the role of signal filters. Only those signals with high energy could penetrate through aquifers and reflect in the spring discharge, while other weak signals were filtered out or altered by aquifers. Hence, MTM was applied to detect and reconstruct the signals that penetrate through aquifers. Subsequently, by analyzing the reconstructed signals of precipitation with those of spring discharge, we acquired the hydraulic response time and identified the quick flow belts. Finally, the methods were applied to the Niangziguan Spring (NS) catchment, China. Results showed that the hydraulic response time of the spring discharge to precipitation was 3 months at Pingding County; 4 months at Yuxian County, Yangquan City, Xiyang County, and Heshun County; and 27 months at Shouyang County and Zouquan County. These results suggested that Pingding County is located at a groundwater quick flow belt, which is a major passage of groundwater and contaminants, in the NS catchment. This is important since Pingding County is not only the key development area of karst groundwater but also the key conservation area for sustainable development of karst groundwater resources in NS catchment.

Anthropization of groundwater resources in the Mediterranean region: processes and challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1529-1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Leduc ◽  
Antonio Pulido-Bosch ◽  
Boualem Remini
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
The Mediterranean
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