Aquifer susceptibility to side-effects of groundwater exploitation

Aquifer vulnerability has become a ‘cornerstone’ of groundwater protection policies, taking into account, as it does, aspects of pollution resulting from applied contaminant load. However, this is not the whole story and groundwater resource degradation can also result from other impacts of development such as piezometric level decline, saline intrusion and subsidence. It is generally the case that such impacts are normally diagnosed after they have occurred. Nevertheless, it is evident that certain aquifers are more susceptible to these impacts (often referred to as ‘over-exploitation’) than others. As a first step towards a method to determine aquifer susceptibility to such impacts, a diagnostic method is introduced as a means to provide managers and planners with an additional method of evaluating potential aquifer degradation as a result of development. The method, as presented, is at an early stage of development and cannot yet be used for inter- regional comparisons. Used critically, however, the authors believe it provides a useful tool for giving a first estimate of aquifer susceptibility. Planned future developments of the methodology are also presented