Groundwater pollution [antikvár]

PREFACE Spain is currently going through a process of very rapid industrial, urban and agricultural development. In response, the Spanish Government has become concerned with the potential for environmental pollution that is associated with the rapid development of a society. In particular, Spain is heavily dependent on groundwater resources and will be even more so in the future due to expected increased in water demands. Groundwater supplies about 23 percent of the present total water supply in Spain, and this ratio is projected to increase to 4-0 percent of the total by the end of the century. However, very little is known about the pollution, or potential pollution, of groundwater resources in the country. The potential pollution problems are such that the Government needs to act rather than wait for the signs of pollution to become acute. This report, which is addressed to the more general aspects of the technology, economics and management of groundwater pollution was part of the initial programme of the Spanish Government to take appropriate action, and is part of a two-year integrated programme entitled "Study of Groundwater Pollution and its Protection" conducted by the Spanish Government and the Institute of Geology and Mines of Spain, with support from the United National Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations Development Programme. In the first year of this programme four Spanish technicians and an economist received training in the field of groundwater pollution at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and this report constitutes the result of a review of the state of the art made during these studies and also presents a summary of the case study used. The results of the first year's effort were used in the second year's programme of preparing national and regional systems for groundwater management and protection. The specific objectives of the second year were to analyse specific methods of groundwater pollution control in Spain and to analyse regional groundwater quality management systems in at least two areas of Spain. This report is not iAtended to be all encompassing, rather it attempts to place pollution aspects in the context of the total environmental system: hydrological, ecological, economic, social, etc. The overall appraoch to handling the effect of development on water resources is through long-term water resource planning, stressing in particular groundwater pollution management, at least within the context presented here, since the management of groundwater quality cannot, in general, be separated from the management of groundwater quantity and surface water quality and quantity. Groundwater pollution management has several levels: from the control or evaluation of an individual local pollution problem to basin-wide groundwater quality management. The need to address this wide range of situations requires a broad background in the technological, economic and managerial aspects of groundwater pollution, as well as its interactions with other factors in the environment. Therefore the overall goal of this resport is to present to managers and technicians a broad picture of the interactions within the environment which may affect groundwater quality. However, for particular problem solving, a more intense look at the environmental interactions will be necessary. In light of this, the objectives of this report are: a. to develop background information on the basic aspects of physics, chemistry and biology as applied to groundwater pollution problems; b. to draw attention to particular types of pollution, their causes, extent and control;