Objectives

To develop a user-driven Groundwater Governance Framework that could be applied in all the Mediterranean countries

To carry out a comprehensive analysis and a complete diagnostic of the water balance and water quality dynamics in Mediterranean groundwater bodies in order to understand the current management decisions and other natural causes that are leading to quantity and quality problems in aquifers of the Mediterranean Basin

To determine the best alternatives for groundwater quality and quantity improvement through an optimised allocation system, that takes into account different type of water resources (conventional vs non-conventional) and uses (agricultural, urban and industrial), temporal scales (short – daily operation – and mid/long term – infrastructure planning and management), and environmental, economic and societal impacts.

To effectively implement a set of economic policy instruments in groundwater management. The GTool will integrate an agro-economic module that will allow simulating the effect of different economic instruments, such as water tariff structures, water markets schemes (e.g. permanent or temporary transactions) and incentives for water savings (water demand management) and assessing the economic use values and trade-offs between users in alternative water resource allocation scenarios.

To predict future water demand and drought events in the area of influence of the groundwater body and assess their derived groundwater quantitative impacts (over-abstraction and depletion) and chemical status degradation (seawater intrusion, transport of contaminants including nitrates and organic contaminants) in order to establish the need to change water management decisions in advance.

To calculate the potential feasibility and benefits of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) and aquifer remediation as an additional groundwater governance decision including socio-economic (CAPEX & OPEX), technical and environmental constraints, as well as effect on the aquifer in terms of quantity and quality