Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-06-18

Impact of hydrological extremes on alpine karst groundwater resources

Objective

Karst aquifers supply ca. 25 % of the global population with drinking water. In some European countries and Alpine regions, more than 50 % of the water supply relies on karst groundwater. At the same time, karst aquifers are particularly vulnerable to contamination, because of their hydrogeological characteristics, such as rapid and turbulent flow in a network of conduits and caves. Karst springs often show rapid and marked discharge variations in response to precipitation and snowmelt. Chemical and microbial parameters also display large variations. Long periods of good water quality are occasionally interrupted by short but intense contamination events, often following storm rainfall. Identifying these events and reacting accordingly is crucial for the safe use of these water resources. Due to climate change, spatial and temporal precipitation patterns will change and the frequency and intensity of storm rainfall will increase. Therefore, contamination events at alpine karst springs are also expected to become more frequent and intense. Thus, the overall goal of the proposed project is to study the influence of intensified storm rainfall events on groundwater contamination in alpine karst regions. The three major methodological approaches of the project include: (i) Detailed monitoring of spring discharge and water quality parameters at selected springs; (ii) experimental field work, such as tracer tests during different hydrological conditions, ranging from low- to high-flow conditions and (iii) application of different concepts for groundwater protection zone delineation and development of an adjusted concept which incorporates the impact of climate change. This will directly allow a re-evaluation of existing groundwater delineation guidelines, the prediction of the contamination risk and help save groundwater as a future drinking water resource.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG)

Coordinator

KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE
EU contribution
€ 100 000,00
Address
KAISERSTRASSE 12
76131 Karlsruhe
Germany

See on map

Region
Baden-Württemberg Karlsruhe Karlsruhe, Stadtkreis
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0