Groundwater quantitative status assessment in Slovenia

Abstract

The framework for the integrated water management of the entire EU area has been set, when the European Parliament and Council passed the Directive 2000/60/EC in 2000. According to the directive, the evaluation of meeting the environmental objectives is based also upon the assessment of quantitative and Chemical status of individual groundwater body. The assessment of quantitative status of groundwater bodies under the Groundwater Directive of EU is based on the definition of the available groundwater quantity. This is a long period mean annual renewable quantity of water in the groundwater body, reduced by the quantity of the long period annual groundwater discharge, which is required for sustaining ecological objectives concerning surface water bodies and preservation of the ecosistems, connected with the groundwater bodies. Methodological approach and the results of the first groundwater quantitive status assessment for 21 groundwater bodies in Slovenia are given in this paper. The assessment of the available groundwater quantity in Slovenian groundwater bodies in the period from 1990 to 2001 are 1,43 ⋅ 109 m3 per year, and 727,4 m3 per capita per year respectively. In the year 2002 abstracted groundwater (0,23 ⋅ 109 m3 per year) represents 15 percent of the available groundwater reserves in Slovenia. For all Slovenian groundwater bodies quantitative status was assessed as good.