"The Geology of Today for Tomorrow" Programme and Abstracts [antikvár]

THE KEY TO IMPROVEMENTS IN AQUIFER PROTECTION: ANALYTICAL HYDROGEOLOGYJézsefTőthProfessor Emeritus Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaThe principal objective of aquifer protection is the prevention of contamination of groundwater, over-exploitation of groundwater, and damage to the environment due to abstraction of groundwater. The common methods used to attain this objective are the establishment of protection zones, assessment of groimdwater vulnerability, and groundwater management. Unfortunately, all these approaches suffer from several problems even under favourable conditions. Such problems include: vague concepts and definitions of factors, processes, and objectives involved; conflicts of interests between production of groundwater, on the one hand, and various aspects of environmental, industrial, and economic concerns, on the other; impossibility of standardizing procedures of investigation and implementation; inadequacy and/or inaccessibility of relevant data; difficulties in site-specific characterization and modeling of subsurface environments; arbitrary and unnecessarily restrictive protection criteria; lack of qualified professional expertise; and so on. Owing to the number and diversity of the problems impeding the effectiveness of the various aquifer-protection approaches, a meaningful overall improvement of the situation must be sought at the basic, strategic level, rather than in tactical details.The view is advanced in the paper, therefore, that the key to a general improvement in aquifer protection is analytical hydrogeology. The term "analytical hydrogeology" is used here to denote the modus operandi by which a hydrogeological problem is tackled. It is defined as hydrogeological activity based on insight and intuition rather than on knowledge and convention; analytical hydrogeology is characterized by analysis and comprehension of the relevant factors and processes rather than by an uncritical, albeit skillful, application of standard procedures, or "cook-book" hydrogeology.Specifically, the following points are suggested to form the basis of a strategic improvement of aquifer protection: I. Recognition that aquifer protection is basically a hydrogeological problem; 2. Recognition that this hydrogeological problem requires a basin-scale approach both in space and time; 3. Recognition that this approach must include every aspect of hydrogeology (e.g., basinal hydraulics, aquifer and well hydraulics, contaminant hydrogeology), as well as surface water hydrology, meteorology, soil and rock mechanics, and so on; 4. Recognition that the solutions can not be standardized, i.e., that "analytical hydrogeology" is needed, instead of "cook-book hydrogeology"; and finally, and most fundamentally, 5. Encourage and enable universities to develop programs and opportunities for the attraction and education of the bright young minds required for analytical hydrogeology.