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Recent studies highlight the fragility of the Mediterranean basin against climate stresses and the difficulties of managing the sustainable development of groundwater resources. In this work, the main issues related to groundwater management have been identified from the stakeholder’s perspective in the following four representative water-stressed Mediterranean areas: the coastal aquifer of Comacchio (Italy), the Alto Guadalentín aquifer (Spain), the alluvial aquifer of the Gediz River basin (Turkey), and the Azraq aquifer (Azraq Wetland Reserve, Jordan). This has been achieved by designing a methodology to involve and engage a representative set of stakeholders, including a questionnaire to learn their point of view concerning the current management of aquifer systems and their experience with the already available tools for groundwater resource management, such as monitoring networks and numerical models. The outcome of the survey has allowed us to identify both particular and common challenges among the four study sites and among the various groups of stakeholders. This information provides valuable insights to improve the transfer of scientific knowledge from the research centers to the authorities managing the groundwater resources and it will help to plan more effective research activities on aquifer management. The proposed methodology could be applied in other aquifers facing similar problems.

[EN] Recent studies highlight the fragility of the Mediterranean basin against climate stresses and the difficulties of managing the sustainable development of groundwater resources. In this work, the main issues related to groundwater management have been identified from the stakeholder’s perspective in the following four representative water-stressed Mediterranean areas: the coastal aquifer of Comacchio (Italy), the Alto Guadalentín aquifer (Spain), the alluvial aquifer of the Gediz River basin (Turkey), and the Azraq aquifer (Azraq Wetland Reserve, Jordan). This has been achieved by designing a methodology to involve and engage a representative set of stakeholders, including a questionnaire to learn their point of view concerning the current management of aquifer systems and their experience with the already available tools for groundwater resource management, such as monitoring networks and numerical models. The outcome of the survey has allowed us to identify both particular and common challenges among the four study sites and among the various groups of stakeholders. This information provides valuable insights to improve the transfer of scientific knowledge from the research centers to the authorities managing the groundwater resources and it will help to plan more effective research activities on aquifer management. The proposed methodology could be applied in other aquifers facing similar problems.

Estudios recientes ponen en manifiesto la vulnerabilidad de las cuencas del mediterráneo y las limitaciones de los actuales organismos gestores para mantener un desarrollo sostenible de los recursos hídricos subterráneos. Con el fin de abordar esta problemática, en este trabajo se han investigado los principales inconvenientes relacionados con la gestión de agua subterránea, teniendo en cuenta la perspectiva de las partes implicadas mediante la realización de encuestas. Para llevar a cabo esta investigación, se han seleccionado cuatro cuencas mediterráneas representativas que se encuentran actualmente bajo estrés hídrico: el acuífero costero de Comacchio (Italia), el acuífero del Alto Guadalentín (España), el acuífero aluvial de la cuenca del río Gediz (Turquía), y el acuífero de Azraq (Reserva de humedales de Azraq, Jordania). Los resultados revelan el punto de vista de las partes implicadas, relacionado con la gestión actual de los sistemas acuíferos y su experiencia con las herramientas disponibles para la gestión de las aguas subterráneas, como lo son las redes de monitoreo y los modelos numéricos. El análisis realizado y ha permitido identificar algunas peculiaridades y retos en común en las cuatro áreas de estudio. Uno de estos grandes desafíos es la falta de referencias para evaluar la adecuación de la red de monitoreo en relación con la frecuencia de muestreo y la distribución espacial. La metodología aquí propuesta junto con los resultados será útil para valorar la percepción de las partes implicadas en otros acuíferos que presenten una situación similar.

The awareness on the importance that land subsidence plays on coastal processes at the regional scale is increased over the last two decades, and it clearly appears that land subsidence can contribute primarily to the relative sea level rise affecting coastal zones. Jakarta is one of the cities mostly affected by the combination of sea-level rise and land subsidence. In this paper, the activities carried out in Jakarta under the umbrella of the IGCP Project 663 were presented, and the possible measures and best practices mitigating land subsidence for the research associates and potential stakeholders were provided, with which can serve as inspiration for authorities and communities facing land subsidence. Meanwhile, major achievements of IGCP 663 in Jakarta were summarized and introduced, including dissemination session, scientific session and field trips. Specifically, major advances on coastal subsidence studies regarding the effect of relative sea level rise, subsidence mapping, monitoring and simulation, as well as the support of policy making are highlighted and summarized.

Depletion of groundwater aquifers along with all of the associated quality and quantity problems which affect profitability of direct agricultural and urban users and linked groundwater-ecosystems have been recognized globally. During recent years, attention has been devoted to land subsidence—the loss of land elevation that occurs in areas with certain geological characteristics associated with aquifer exploitation. Despite the large socioeconomic impacts of land subsidence most of these effects are still not well analyzed and not properly recognized and quantified globally. In this paper we developed a land subsidence impact extent (LSIE) index that is based on 10 land subsidence attributes, and applied it to 113 sites located around the world with reported land subsidence effects. We used statistical means to map physical, human, and policy variables to the regions affected by land subsidence and quantified their impact on the index. Our main findings suggest that LSIE increases between 0.1 and 6.5% by changes in natural processes, regulatory policy interventions, and groundwater usage, while holding all other variables unchanged. Effectiveness of regulatory policy interventions vary depending on the lithology of the aquifer system, in particular its stiffness. Our findings suggest also that developing countries are more prone to land subsidence due to lower performance of their existing water governance and institutions.

Subsidence, the lowering of Earth's land surface, is a potentially destructive hazard that can be caused by a wide range of natural or anthropogenic triggers but mainly results from solid or fluid mobilization underground. Subsidence due to groundwater depletion (1) is a slow and gradual process that develops on large time scales (months to years), producing progressive loss of land elevation (centimeters to decimeters per year) typically over very large areas (tens to thousands of square kilometers) and variably affects urban and agricultural areas worldwide. Subsidence permanently reduces aquifer-system storage capacity, causes earth fissures, damages buildings and civil infrastructure, and increases flood susceptibility and risk. During the next decades, global population and economic growth will continue to increase groundwater demand and accompanying groundwater depletion (2) and, when exacerbated by droughts (3), will probably increase land subsidence occurrence and related damages or impacts. To raise awareness and inform decision-making, we evaluate potential global subsidence due to groundwater depletion, a key first step toward formulating effective land-subsidence policies that are lacking in most countries worldwide.