Only Healthy Groundwater Ecosystems Provide Clean Groundwater

Two thirds of drinking water in Germany is obtained from groundwater. At the same time groundwater is in no way a lifeless resource with at least 2,000 known species and numerous microorganisms mainly helping to clean the groundwater and improve the quality of drinking water. However, the protection of this habitat has not yet been established in law. The Institute for Environmental Sciences of the University of Koblenz-Landau has now presented a draft for the geographical classification of groundwater fauna, which could be used as an important step for the evaluation of the environmental status of groundwater. Its aim is the long-overdue establishment of suitable measures for the sustainable, ecologically-oriented management of groundwater.

European groundwater is bustling with at least 2,000 highly adapted, often very rare species such as turbellaria, rotifiers, water mites, fresh water amphipods and olms. Groundwater therefore provides one of the largest continental and oldest habitats in Europe. The so-called ecosystem services provided by groundwater creatures are highly relevant: the species-rich bacteria and fauna clean the water in the subsoil by decomposing organic material which has fallen from the surface to the bottom.

The creatures are also particularly suitable as bioindicators: due to their specialisation to the habitat, they are particularly susceptible to changes such as infiltration of surface water, fertilisers and pollutants such as metals and temperature fluctuations.

Compared to chemical analysis methods, they can provide a much earlier indication of changes in the water and in so doing make a significant contribution towards ensuring the quality of groundwater and therefore drinking water.

With the publication of the essay "Stygoregions -- a promising approach to a bioregional classification of groundwater systems," the research team led by associate lecturer Dr. Hans Jürgen Hahn of the Institute for Environmental Sciences of the University of Koblenz-Landau together with Dr. Christian Griebler of the Institute of Groundwater Ecology of the Helmholtz Centre, Munich, has developed a proposal for the biogeographical classification of groundwater habitats in Germany. For this publication, data from the project "Development of biological evaluation methods and criteria for groundwater ecosystems" commissioned by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the LAWA (the German Working Group on water issues of the Federal States and the Federal Government represented by the Federal Environment Ministry) as well as numerous other studies by the University of Koblenz-Landau was evaluated. This is the first ever proposal for a definition of ecological references for groundwater over a wide area. These may provide an important basis for defining whether the environmental status of groundwater is good.

"Binding criteria and limits for the evaluation and sustainable protection of groundwater ecosystems can only be established on such a basis," stresses Hahn. These already existed for surface water, however studies by the University of Koblenz-Landau have shown that this classification does not hold up for groundwater.

The scientists proposed a groundwater-specific classification with four potential so-called stygoregions for groundwater, taking Germany as an example. "Sustainable groundwater management is only possible if the groundwater ecology is taken fully into consideration," explains Hahn. "Fortunately those responsible for water management and water supply are open minded about this issue, because they too know that only healthy groundwater ecosystems provide clean groundwater."

Ultimately it is the politicians who are challenged to define the legal status of groundwater ecosytems. Although there are passages in laws such as the EU Groundwater Directive and the German Water Management Act in which groundwater is defined as waters and waterways and is therefore subject to the general principles of waterway management with all of its consequences and protective laws, to date there is no legal opinion or relevant precedent which would clarify the inconsistent legal situation and provide momentum to its implementation.

sciencedaily.com

Infographic: Where Is All The Water?

The first version of this infographic came from RainCatcher's Facebook page (the infographic is a little better quality there). The version shown here - the original - is from GOOD and Column Five Media. You can click on it to enlarge it, or view a larger version here.

Thanks to reader Ihadira Lopez for identifying the original source.

It's useful (although the print is a bit small), but it blows off groundwater by stating 'most of which is too expensive to tap into and filter'. Of course, that assumption makes the available water a small percentage, but remember - even that 1% of all freshwater equals about 335,000 cubic kilometers. Even if we take a conservative approach and halve that number, it's still a lot of water.

Right - those numbers mean little to most people. But they equal abut 15 or 7.5 times the total volume of the North American Great Lakes, and remember - that water is mostly renewable although we have to worry about its quality degradation as we use it.

And we can still pump some of that groundwater.

And here is a PDF of some water infographics from the Blue Planet Network:

Download WaterInfoGraphics

WaterWired by Michael E. 'Aquadoc' Campana

Australia: Ground Water at Risk

                                                                              Groundwater Sampling in Queensland

The nation is set to run out of fresh water within a decade or two unless an urgent plan to preserve and protect groundwater resources is implemented, according to the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NGCRT).

The federal government's National Groundwater Action Plan, run by the National Water Commission, is winding up - and with proposed changes to groundwater rules in the latest version of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) plan, water scientists Professor Craig Simmons and Professor Peter Cook say much needs to be done to secure groundwater resources for the future.

Resolving issues over conflicting use of resources including the impact of coal seam gas (CSG), geothermal, mining and farming activity on groundwater resources, better understanding of the links between ground and surface waters, and resolving legal and technical questions over the storage of surplus water in underground aquifers were among challenges.

"Some of the biggest challenges concern public trust and confidence issues regarding groundwater," Professor Simmons said.

"Most Australians are simply not aware that the vast bulk of our fresh water is underground, out of sight, out of mind.

"They do not realise it supplies much of the water we see in our surface rivers and wetlands, and hence much of our drinking water."

There was a dire need, he said, for public education and "myth-busting" about groundwater – especially the widely-held view that it represented an unlimited resource for the future.
The skills shortage extended to water management, with Australia facing an acute scarcity of talent.

"You can’t run the mining industry without geologists or agriculture without farmers. Water is a resource vital to both and to every other facet of Australian life – and needs to be equally well-planned, managed and allocated," Professor Simmons said.

The pair advocated storing more surface water underground, by recharging suitable aquifers, but say many of the legal, social and public acceptance issues around this needed to be resolved

High-level national resource management needed to be linked to the interests of local communities, industries and other users, in a way that makes for rational decisions and sound resource use, Professor Simmons said.

"When industries, communities and the environment are competing for the same water resource – as is bound to happen increasingly from now on – we need better ways for allocating the water that meet social, economic and environmental needs.
"The National Water Initiative provides a good basis – but it is important it is fully adopted," he said.

The researchers called for a group of top-level water managers, government departments and water scientists to develop a draft for a National Groundwater Strategic Plan which addresses all these issues, and more.

"(Although) it has rained across much of Australia and drought issues have receded from the headlines, this does not mean we can afford to be complacent," Professor Simmons said.

"We are still on track to more than double our water use by mid-century – and there are no big, new water resources to be found, so we have to address the situation by being far more clever in how we manage what we’ve got."

By Bronwyn Farr@Stock & Land farmonline.com.au

IMPERIALIST NGO’S EYE AFRICA’S MASSIVE UNDERGROUND WATER RESERVES

Researchers have found that Africa has huge reserves of water underground, which they estimate are more than a hundred times the annual renewable freshwater resources.

Their findings, published in the academic journal Environment Research Letters, show that the largest reserves are in aquifers in the north African countries of Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Chad and Sudan.

The scientists used existing data, but for the first time this data was collated to give a continent-wide picture. They estimate that there are 0.66 million cubic kilometres of groundwater storage under Africa.

However, the researchers emphasise that it is important to take into consideration the rate at which this stored water can be replenished.

Whilst the largest reserves lie across the arid region of north Africa, these were filled five thousand years ago when the region was much wetter. There is plenty of water under this area, about seventy five meters deep, but whatever is taken out is not replenished.

Other factors to be taken into account are the geological characteristics of the underground water reservoirs. For example, if the groundwater is very deep underground it cannot be accessed by hand pump.

The researchers find that “for many African countries appropriately sited and constructed boreholes will be able to sustain community handpumps and for most of the populated areas of Africa, groundwater levels are likely to be sufficiently shallow to be accessed using a handpump”.

One of the report’s authors, Helen Bonsor of the British Geological Survey, told AIM that it is not appropriate to downscale the report’s findings, and that their work does not deal with the quality of the water stored. It thus does not deal with the issues of salinization or contamination, although she said that in general the stored water is purer than surface water. She stressed that the report is intended to encourage debate and more local research.

There is certainly a large amount of water under Mozambique, and the paper estimates that there are 6,290 cubic kilometres of groundwater stored under the country, with particularly large reserves under Maputo province.

The groundwater in Mozambique is replenished at a rate of between 25 and 100 millimetres per year, and is stored relatively close to the surface. The paper shows that the aquifer productivity for much of Mozambique is high.

The British Geological Survey has also been undertaking a one year research project funded by the British government’s Department for International Development, looking at the resilience of African groundwater to climate change.

That research found that “groundwater possesses a high resilience to climate change in Africa and should be central to adaptation strategies”.

Wrong Kind Of Green Blog 

From Decade to Decade: What's the Status of Our Groundwater Quality?

There was no change in concentrations of chloride, dissolved solids, or nitrate in groundwater for more than 50 percent of well networks sampled in a new analysis by the USGS that compared samples from 1988-2000 to samples from 2001-2010. For those networks that did have a change, seven times more networks saw increases as opposed to decreases.

The analysis was done by the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) to determine if concentrations of these constituents have increased or decreased significantly from the 1990's to the early 2000's nationwide.

"By providing a nation-wide, long-term, uniformly consistent analysis of trends in groundwater quality, communities can see whether they belong in the group of more than 50 percent which are maintaining their water quality, or within the group of more than 40 percent for which water quality is back sliding," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. 

"Communities in the latter group can decide whether and what action may be warranted to address quality issues so they do not cause concern to human health."

Though chloride, nitrate, and dissolved solids occur naturally in the environment, human activities can cause concentrations to exceed levels that would be found naturally. At high concentrations, these chemicals can have adverse effects on human and environmental health.

High levels of chloride and dissolved solids in water don't present a risk to human health, but are considered nuisance chemicals that can cause the water to become unusable without treatment because of taste or hardness. Additionally, these chemicals can have adverse effects on ecosystems in streams and rivers when they discharge from the groundwater to these water bodies.

Excessive nitrate concentrations in groundwater have the potential to affect its suitability for drinking water. Also, when nitrate-laden water is discharged from groundwater to streams, the nitrate can end up in downstream water bodies, such as the Gulf of Mexico, and cause algal blooms. These algal blooms lead to low oxygen zones, which can be deadly to aquatic life.

Chloride, dissolved solids, and nitrate have many sources, including agricultural fertilizers, wastewater disposal, and runoff from salt used for deicing or other chemicals. 

Understanding changes in groundwater quality may help assess the effectiveness of management practices that have been implemented to control these sources.

"This type of long-term trend analysis is crucial for assessing whether the nation's groundwater is adequately protected from excessive concentrations of these potential contaminants," said Bruce Lindsey, lead scientist on the report. "USGS is uniquely positioned to provide this type of nationally consistent, scientific information to managers at the federal, state, and local level, so that they can make decisions that protect people and the environment."

Though a majority of the well networks tested saw no change, chloride concentrations increased in 43 percent of the well networks from the first decade to the second decade of study. Dissolved solids concentrations increased in 41 percent, and nitrate concentrations in 23 percent of well networks.

Although concentrations of these three constituents generally meet their respective EPA drinking water standards or guidelines, the proportion of samples exceeding the limits for nitrate and dissolved solids increased significantly over the decadal period at the national level.

Other important findings include:

• The largest increases in chloride concentrations were in urban areas in the Northeastern and Upper Midwestern United States, including suburban Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee.
• Dissolved solids concentrations increased throughout the nation, including areas of Florida, Illinois, and the Rio Grande region.
• The largest increases in nitrate concentrations were in key agricultural areas, including the Great Plains, areas east of Lake Michigan, and in California.
• The magnitudes of increases in concentrations in deeper groundwater used as a source of drinking-water supply were generally less than in shallow groundwater. However, the proportions of networks with increases for both deep and shallow groundwater were similar.

The analysis consists of samples from 1,236 wells in 56 well networks, representing major aquifers and urban and agricultural land-use areas. Samples for chloride, dissolved solids, and nitrate collected from 1988-2000 were compared to corresponding samples taken from the same well between 2001 and 2010.

The NAWQA program continues to conduct studies on long-term groundwater trends. This analysis, which provides an overview of current water quality conditions and trends over time, is an important foundation for future NAWQA studies that examine the causes of changing concentrations and generate water-quality forecasts.

This report, "Methods for Evaluating Temporal Groundwater Quality Data and Results of Decadal-Scale Changes in Chloride, Dissolved Solids, and Nitrate Concentrations in Groundwater in the United States, 1988-2010" as well as links to a series of interactive maps showing long-term groundwater trends, can be found online.

Science Daily