Conclusions of the International Workshop on Groundwater Systems in Europe, August 2013

Workshop Resume

• The "International Workshop on Groundwater Systems in Europe" gave an overview of current activities regarding groundwater assessment with special focus on international respectively transboundary aspects and on the need for new groundwater data.
• The upcoming reporting of the second River Basin Management Plan according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD) constitutes a major impulse for ongoing national and European-wide groundwater projects. The CIS Working Group C (WG C), which is addressing WFD groundwater issues, will continue to provide its service.
• The history, the approaches and the instruments used in groundwater assessment strongly vary between the European countries as was illustrated by the examples of e.g. Albania, Czech Republic, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
• The printing of the 25 IHME sheets has been completed and digital layers of aquifer types and lithology derived from the IHME will be available soon. This will provide the first European-wide harmonised spatial groundwater dataset. BGR also compiled the WFD Groundwater Body (GWB) layer on behalf of the ETC/ICM. The layer shows that the datasets, currently reported by the EU member states, are not consistent. However, a future amended and coherent GWB layer will support the European-wide groundwater survey substantially.
• The IHME GIS layers may form a valuable instrument in several research fields as for instance the harmonisation of WFD data, the assessment of transboundary aquifers and the filling of gaps concerning groundwater model components. In particular the IHME lithology layer has already been required for use in other disciplines at European level, such as soil mapping, geochemistry and land slide hazard assessment.
• The participants agreed that the quality and quantity of aquifer data must be further improved. This is essential for a precise characterisation and delineation of aquifers including transboundary groundwater resources and the accuracy of hydrogeological models.
• Assessment of transboundary aquifers is carried out at different scales as demonstrated for river basins, continents and at a global level.
• The development of improved groundwater models including 3D will enhance the understanding of hydrogeological systems, their controlling processes and future developments. Especially in a combination with models of interacting media groundwater models operate as important decision support tools.
• Finally, the hydrogeological information must be easily accessible for data users and the public. Tools of data exchange via the internet as for instance Web Map Services and interactive information platforms are available, but require further development and adaption by hydrogeologists.

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