L’union fait la force or how different approaches should be combined to assess groundwater vulnerability at the regional scale

Vanclooster, Marnik [UCL] Mfumu Kihumba, Antoine [UCL] Ouedraogo, Issoufou [UCL]

The sustainable management of groundwater implies an in depth knowledge of the status of groundwater and the pressures that are exerted on it. Monitoring and modeling groundwater systems allows generating the required information for such an appropriate management. Yet, the classical monitoring techniques are confronted with small sampling support, and the current modelling techniques suffer from limited validation and accuracy. In this lecture, we show how advanced monitoring, including the monitoring of stable isotopes, in combination with spatially distributed modelling improves considerably the quality of the groundwater assessment. The techniques are illustrated for assessing groundwater contamination by nitrates.