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Misconceived aquifer structure and hydrodynamics – erratic water resources management: The case of river Pinios estuarine

Citation:

Panagopoulos, Α.,, Pisinaras, V.,, Ilias, Α.,, Paraskevas, Ch.,, Arampatzis, G.,, Alexopoulos, J.D.,, Stathaki, S.,, et al. (2015). Misconceived aquifer structure and hydrodynamics – erratic water resources management: The case of river Pinios estuarine. 5th International Conference on Environmental Management, Engineering, Planning & Economics. Mykonos Isl.

Abstract:

This paper addresses the critical issue of how wrong can water resources management go if the structure and hydrodynamic evolution of the exploited system is not well known. As a case study the River Pinios estuarine groundwater system in central Greece, is discussed. The study area has a spatial extent of about 80km2 and a typical estuarine shape. Due to the neotectonic evolution and the eustatic moves, a unique geomorphological environment and a dense hydrological network have been developed. Dominant socioeconomic activity in the region is agriculture and secondarily tourism that is focused only along a narrow strip along the coastal line and occurs only seasonally. Domestic water demands are covered by groundwater abstractions mainly from deeper wells drilled at the margins of the estuarine. Shallow wells in the alluvial sediments of the basin augment irrigation demands that are predominantly catered by surface water from the river Pinios and its tributaries, and to a minor extent several springs that emerge along the marginal fans of the basin. Due to the shallow groundwater levels, a large percentage of irrigation demands is covered by direct osmosis of water from the root zone.

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