Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The relationships between cities and underlying groundwater are reviewed, with the aim to highlight the importance of urban groundwater resources in terms of city resilience value. Examples of more than 70 cities worldwide are cited along with details of their groundwater-related issues, specific experiences, and settings. The groundwater-related issues are summarized, and a first groundwater-city classification is proposed in order to facilitate a more effective city-to-city comparison with respect to, for example, the best practices and solutions that have been put in practice by similar cities in terms of local groundwater resources management. The interdependences between some groundwater services and the cascading effects on city life in cases of shock (e.g., drought, heavy rain, pollution, energy demand) and chronic stress (e.g., climate change) are analyzed, and the ideal groundwater-resilient-city characteristics are proposed. The paper concludes that groundwater is a crucial resource for planning sustainability in every city and for implementing city resilience strategies from the climate change perspective.</jats:p>

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The unsaturated zone is a globally important, dynamic water store, which affects water resources, agriculture and pollutant transport. Despite this, the magnitude of unsaturated zone water storage remains highly uncertain. This work provides the first global estimates of the magnitude of this store (1.0 x10<jats:sup>5</jats:sup> km<jats:sup>3</jats:sup>) in comparison to recent estimates of global modern groundwater (3.5x10<jats:sup>5</jats:sup> km<jats:sup>3</jats:sup>), before presenting a roadmap for improved representation of the unsaturated zone in global hydrological models.</jats:p>

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Improving our understanding of groundwater quality threats to human health and the environment is essential to protect and manage groundwater resources effectively. This essay highlights some global groundwater quality challenges, describes key contaminant groups and threats of emerging concern, including antimicrobial resistance, and discusses novel approaches to assessing groundwater quality. Groundwater quality monitoring needs to improve significantly in order to effectively identify and mitigate threats to groundwater from historical, current and future pollution.</jats:p>

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Understanding the rate of extraction from bores (or wells) can be essential in estimating groundwater discharge at a regional scale and understanding pressures on sustainable use. The challenges in doing so include the impracticality of directly measuring extractions from all, or even a large proportion of, operating bores using flow meters, especially in rural and remote areas. This challenge may be addressed by metering a representative sample of bores and generalising results to develop estimation methods; however, even achieving this presents considerable obstacles. While the benefits of metering a subset of bores to progress groundwater science and management are recognised, the obstacles to implementing metering and guidance on overcoming them are not well documented. In the Surat Basin, Australia, most groundwater bores are used for stock watering and domestic purposes, with less than 0.1% metered. As part of a research program to understand regional groundwater extraction in this area, a voluntary bore metering program has been undertaken. In this paper the challenges that arose when recruiting participants, installing and maintaining flow metering equipment, and interpreting and using data collected are described. Lessons learnt during implementation of the program that can guide other voluntary metering of rural groundwater extractions are discussed.</jats:p>

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Securing water supply is an extremely important issue following an earthquake. Recent earthquakes in Japan have prompted focus on the use of groundwater or disaster emergency wells (DEWs). Water supply networks are vulnerable to earthquakes because they comprise long-distance pipelines that are not always earthquake-resistant. Groundwater, however, can usually be found directly below an area where water is required and can serve as an alternative water source. Although previous studies discussed the importance of groundwater in relation to natural disasters, with special reference to drought, little attention has been given to the use of groundwater following earthquakes. In this study, two questionnaire surveys were conducted of DEW owners and welfare facilities for elderly people in Kumamoto (Japan), which was struck by an Mw 7.3 earthquake in 2016, to identify the advantages and disadvantages of using groundwater as an emergency water supply and ascertain policy issues to be resolved for making DEWs effective. Results showed that not only 30 DEWs but also at least 25 privately owned wells not registered as DEWs were open to the public in the early restoration stage, improving people’s access to water and decreasing the burden on the Kumamoto city government’s emergency water supply. However, it was revealed that groundwater might not always be potable owing to quality concerns. Additionally, only a limited number of welfare facilities used the available adjacent DEWs and DEW recognition level remains low. These findings indicate that improving information disclosure regarding emergency groundwater use is a policy issue to be resolved.</jats:p>