About

As the largest liquid freshwater reservoir on earth, groundwater has both a huge environmental and economic value, and will be an essential resource for adaptation to climate change and reduction of socio-economic vulnerability, particularly in regions where freshwater availability is highly variable and frequently limited.

Several factors foster the need for a more comprehensive and multidisciplinary educational groundwater programme.

First, groundwater is a component of the water cycle interacting with all other components at various temporal and spatial scales.

Second, groundwater systems are largely interdependent with socio-economic development. The presence of important and productive aquifers can boost socio-economic development and alleviate poverty in low-income countries by providing water for public supply and sustainable irrigation, increasing (environmental-friendly) land use efficiency.

On the other hand, the continuous growth of the world population and the socio-economic development of many countries has already caused, and will continue to cause, large impacts on freshwater (including groundwater) systems through uncontrolled exploitation, causing depletion, seawater intrusion, reduction in baseflows in rivers and ecological flows sustaining freshwater ecosystems, or land subsidence.

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a brief introduction to GroundwatCh by programme coordinator Dr. Tibor Stigter

Third, climate change is foreseen to affect freshwater availability globally, with several hotspots, among which many areas that currently already suffer periods of severe droughts and freshwater scarcity, such as the Mediterranean area of southern Europe and Northern Africa, northeast China, northern and south-western Latin America, large parts of Australia and the western United States, among others. Fourth, important feedback mechanisms exist between groundwater (and its use), climate and global change, which vary in time and space.

The existence of groundwater at shallow depths for instance has a large influence on processes occurring in the atmospheric boundary layer, whereas lateral groundwater flow towards rivers and wetlands sustains surface moisture levels that feed back into the regional climate. Groundwater-supported evapotranspiration can significantly contribute to the overall water balance, whereas groundwater-fed irrigation increases evapotranspiration rates overall, possibly affect the precipitation regime.

Min Lu / China

"This Erasmus programme focuses on groundwater and global changes which is of growing importance nowadays and in the future. Two years of study in three different countries is an excellent experience to build up professional skills. Moreover, it is a good opportunity to meet classmates from all over the world, enjoy Europe and have a lot of fun!" Read more

GroundwatCh addresses the current gaps in higher education with regard to the understanding of the complex interactions between groundwater, surface water, climate and global change, and how we should consider these, and can benefit from them, for the implementation of adaptation solutions. Embracing the central theme of Groundwater and Global Change – Impacts and Adaptation we have linked it to six major thematic fields.

Hydrological flow and ecosystems (A)

Explain groundwater occurrences and aquifer properties in different geological environments.
Carry out comprehensive groundwater flow system analyses in different hydroclimatic regions and geological settings, interpreting and integrating the different sets of collected physical, geochemical and environmental data.
Assess interactions between groundwater and dependent surface water bodies and ecosystems, through the contact of the aquifers with the soil zones, rivers, wetlands and vegetation.
Build groundwater balances to calculate availability, integrating the concepts of recharge, storage and discharge, representing the interactions of groundwater within the hydrological cycle.
Know the steady state and transient groundwater flow processes and their physical description, and apply analytical solutions to solve flow problems, under natural conditions and caused by pumping.

Groundwater quality and pollution (B)

Apply basic chemical principles and determine reactions that play a role in the determination and evolution of groundwater quality.
Perform field and simple lab measurements of physicochemical parameters that are relevant for groundwater quality and pollution studies.
Explain the main sources, pathways and fate of different geogenic and anthropogenic groundwater pollutants and salinization mechanisms, and develop mitigation and remediation measures.

Groundwater and climate (C)

Know and explain the climate system components (atmosphere, ocean, land surface with humid, semi-arid and arid subsystems, cryosphere) and their interdependencies (feedbacks) on different spatial scales.
Apply associated methods for interpretation, with mathematical detail of the chemical, radiative, dynamic and thermodynamic processes that occur.
Determine climate-groundwater interrelations, and the role of land use, through the study of water and matter fluxes in soils and simulations using soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer models.
Apply model principles in climate research, including global circulation models and regional downscaling, model application and evaluation, uncertainty and performance analysis.

IWRM and sustainable development (D)

Advance knowledge of water resources planning, protection of water bodies and aquatic ecosystems, water use licensing and management.
Portray the core principles of the integrated and adaptative water resources management paradigms to coordinate the development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
Identify the water governance framework and its political, social, economic, and administrative dimensions and the role of various water management instruments such as legal and regulatory aspects, management plans, infrastructures, water permits and financial instruments.
Obtain insight into the application of the water framework directive in the EU, its goals and principles, largely focused on ecological integrity, and importance for national water related laws.
Describe the concept and dimensions of sustainable development, as well as the role of participatory analysis in water resources management, involving society, stakeholders and politics.

Water infrastructure (E)

Explain the underlying principles of methods applied to groundwater exploration, such as hydrogeological mapping, geophysical surveys and pumping tests.
Delineate wellhead protection perimeters and other zones of aquifer protection using analytical and numerical simulations.
Contribute with scientific knowledge to the design, construction and operation of groundwater and conjunctive supply systems and assessing their impact on the environment.
Assess the mechanisms of important methods for water management in urban areas such as drinking water and wastewater treatment, wastewater systems, managed aquifer recharge.
Explain the influence of urban water infrastructure on groundwater quantity and quality and the importance of green infrastructure in urban environments promoting groundwater recharge.

Monitoring, data and modelling (F)

Design or optimise groundwater monitoring networks using existing and innovative procedures.
Design and conduct hydrological fieldwork, experiments and other data collection surveys relevant for assessing the groundwater and global change processes and interactions.
Interpret hydro(geo)logical and climatic time series and spatial data through statistical spatiotemporal analysis.
Build models to simulate hydrological and atmospheric fluxes and transport, and water resources allocation, relevant for groundwater-related impacts and solutions for management and protection.