Abstract
Abstract. In Europe, it is estimated that around 65 % of drinking water is extracted from groundwater. Worryingly, groundwater drought events (defined as below normal groundwater levels) pose a threat to water security. Groundwater droughts are caused by seasonal to multi-seasonal or even multi-annual episodes of meteorological drought during which the drought propagates through the river catchment into the groundwater system by mechanisms of pooling, lagging, and lengthening of the drought signals. Recent European drought events in 2010–2012, 2015 and 2017–2018 exhibited spatial coherence across large areas, thus demonstrating the need for transboundary monitoring and analysis of groundwater level fluctuations. However, such monitoring and analysis of groundwater drought at a pan-European scale is currently lacking, and so represents a gap in drought research as well as in water management capability. To address this gap, the European Groundwater Drought Initiative (GDI), a pan-European collaboration, is undertaking a large-scale data synthesis of European groundwater level data. This is being facilitated by the establishment of a new network to co-ordinate groundwater drought research across Europe. This research will deliver the first assessment of spatio-temporal changes in groundwater drought status from ∼1960 to present, and a series of case studies on groundwater drought impacts in selected temperate and semi-arid environments across Europe. Here, we describe the methods used to undertake the continental-scale status assessment, which are more widely applicable to transboundary or large-scale groundwater level analyses also in regions beyond Europe, thereby enhancing groundwater management decisions and securing water supply.
Highlights
Groundwater is the primary source for public water supply, agricultural irrigation and industry in many countries
Brauns et al.: The Groundwater Drought Initiative ever, recharge of this valuable resource depends on natural year-on-year variations in rainfall, and drought signals from major meteorological droughts may propagate into the subsurface, causing groundwater heads to fall below normal (Van Lanen and Peters, 2000)
The following research gaps can been identified: (i) the skills are present across Europe, there is a major gap in European drought research capability related to groundwater droughts, primarily due to a lack of co-ordination between hydrogeologists and hydrologists with appropriate expertise (Staudinger et al, 2019); (ii) there is a gap in research capability to provide a timely, integrated and consistent overview of groundwater level data at the continental scale under conditions of drought, and to assess the status of groundwater drought in a manner comparable with other hydrometeorological drought signals; and, (iii) there has to date been no systematic attempt to undertake an assessment of the impacts of groundwater droughts at the continental scale
Summary
Groundwater is the primary source for public water supply, agricultural irrigation and industry in many countries. B. Brauns et al.: The Groundwater Drought Initiative ever, recharge of this valuable resource depends on natural year-on-year variations in rainfall ( meteorological conditions during the wet season), and drought signals from major meteorological droughts may propagate into the subsurface, causing groundwater heads to fall below normal (Van Lanen and Peters, 2000). Brauns et al.: The Groundwater Drought Initiative ever, recharge of this valuable resource depends on natural year-on-year variations in rainfall ( meteorological conditions during the wet season), and drought signals from major meteorological droughts may propagate into the subsurface, causing groundwater heads to fall below normal (Van Lanen and Peters, 2000) These periods of below normal groundwater levels, termed groundwater droughts, have a number of unwelcome effects, such as reduced production of groundwater from boreholes, and the drying up of groundwater-dependent ecosystems with resulting implications for wildlife and livelihoods. This paper describes the background to the GDI and introduces the methodological approach that is being developed to assess groundwater status at the European scale (i.e. the first objective of the GDI), using selected groundwater level data from across Europe
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