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Groundwater Resources Assessment

1.Aims of the groundwater resources assessment

  • Develop an initial hydrogeological conceptual model for each catchment.
  • Using surface water catchments to access groundwater resources as internationally recognised management unit and have calibration point for all of the water in catchment.
  • Provide a basis for prioritising further investigation into groundwater resources in the catchment accross the east of Ireland.
  • Identify existing information which is not available for these series of reports which would be useful for further analysis.
  • Identify information gaps e.g. yields in aquifer propoerties which could be addressed by the GSI's Groundwater section by carrying out fieldwork.

2.Methodology

  • Examine all relevant and available regional scale mapping and data to develop a conceptual understanding of the groundwater resources within the catchment.
  • This uses surface water catchments (the internationally recognised management unit for water resources, as they have a calibration point for all of the water in the catchment) to assess groundwater resrouces.
  • Use the conceptual understanding to divide the catchment into different hydrogeological zones.
  • Use results of assessment to prioritise areas for further investigations into the development of future groundwater resources and identify potential constraints.

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3.Groundwater level and rainfall analysis

​Hydrographs illustrate the aquifers response to recharge as rising and falling limbs in time. As such they are essential for analysis of groundwater resources. Their analysis can provide evidence of the impacts of e.g. recharge and/or abstraction. Analyses of Met Eireann rainfall data are being used to interpret the hydrographs.

4.Water balance

​A water balance has been estimated for each catchment to understand the mechanisms of how water travels through each of the catchments; to test the integrity of the data used for the catchment assessment; and to identify possible data gaps.

5.Potential constraints to water resource

​As well as considering the potential groundwater resources, potential constraints to groundwater abstraction are being assessed. These include: an appraisal of the impact of groundwater abstraction on a groundwater body scale in the individual catchment; potential impact on protected areas and the impact of climate change.

6.Conceptual models

​Each of the catchments is divided into zones based on natural physical and anthropogenic setting, and on available site specific monitoring data. Each of the catchments is assessed in terms of the potential for developing new groundwater resources.  

7. Groundwater resource assessment reports

​There are 32 individual reports which have the following structure:
Part A Overview of catchment from regional mapping
Part B Analysis of available site specific monitoring data
Part C Assessment of potential groundwater resources
Part D Potential constraints to future abstractions