Water Quality and Sediment Behaviour of the Future: Predictions for the
21st Century (Proceedings of Symposium HS2005 at IUGG2007, Perugia, July
2007). IAHS Publ. 314, 2007, 261-270
Groundwater
of the future in the Roussillon flood plain: present-day situation and
solutions for the 21st century
pierre
serrat
Université de Nancy 2, CERPA - EA-1135 – 23,
boulevard Albert 1er, F-54 000 Nancy, France
pierre.serrat@univ-nancy2.fr
Abstract In the Roussillon flood plain (France), as all around the Mediterranean Sea, water resources are not very important. However, for three decades, groundwater pumping has become very excessive. The consequences are clear: the levels of all aquifers are falling and the quality of water is getting worse. This is a serious problem because this water is renewed with an average period of about 5000 to 7000 years. In some wells of the plain, the signs are alarming with low aquifer levels and pollution by nitrates. Near the Mediterranean Sea, penetration by a salt wedge has been recorded. Better management of this resource is required. Several solutions can be put forward, such as the use of water coming from the karst reserves of the Corbieres Mountains, as well as the treatment of river water, stored by means of the existing dams. These solutions have a real cost: the price of sustainable management of the water.
Key
words groundwater; overexploitation; Mediterranean
regions; Roussillon flood plain; water pollution; sustainable development;
demography