Aquifer Management in Spain

Aquifer management is little known to the general public yet extremely important. In semi-arid areas such as agriculture-heavy Murcia, productivity is often hit by severe droughts. This combination results in extreme strain on the management of water resources, which, in absence of other viable alternatives, often results in overexploitation of the aquifer.

The impact of overexploitation can be devastating leading to ground deformation that can cause building damages and aquifer depletion, while endangering water quality, reducing the productivity of agricultural soils and threatening protected natural areas.

The responsible water authority Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura (CHS) contracted services from the DARES company and from the Geological Survey of Spain, IGME to produce regular ground deformation maps based on InSAR measurements using Sentinel-1. This has allowed CHS to make better, informed decisions on the sustainable management of the aquifer.

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