Groundwater–Surface Water Interaction: Process Understanding, Conceptualization and Modelling (Proceedings of Symposium HS1002 at IUGG2007, Perugia, July 2007). IAHS Publ. 321, 2008, 204-210.

Optimization of land use for sustaining groundwater quality

PETER Cepuder, REINHARD Nolz & VOLKER aus der Schmitten

Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Wien, Austria

peter.cepuder@boku.ac.at

Abstract Groundwater contamination is a serious problem in many Austrian plains because groundwater serves as a source for drinking water on the one hand, and agricultural land use is identified as a significant contributor to the pollution on the other hand. In particular, nitrate concentrations in groundwater are a problem as they often exceed the drinking water limit of 50 mg/L (TWV, 2001). A computer model (EPIC & ArcView-GIS) served as a tool for getting spatial information about the actual state (amount and nitrate concentration of percolation water) based on current land use practices within an agricultural area, the Grazerfeld. In this way, the impacts of fertilization and irrigation, as well as crop rotation and tillage operations on groundwater contamination, were simulated and evaluated. Scenarios of alternative land use were run to find optimal crop rotations and tillage operations which could help to sustain the groundwater quality, primarily with respect to nitrate concentrations. It is envisaged that the results will serve as a basis for better understanding groundwater recharge and surface water–groundwater interactions in the Mur River catchment.

Key words groundwater contamination; nitrate; simulation; EPIC; GIS