Thematic Coordination Meeting held in Budapest on 25-26 February
During a 2-days-long thematic meeting organised by the LP, Mining and Geological Survey (HU) and Geogold Kárpátia Ltd. (HU), project partners reviewed the current status of preparation for the first national trainings for stakeholders in PL, SK, HU, CRO and DE on good practices of managed aquifer recharge (MAR), as well as the components of the decision support toolbox aiming the designation of potential MAR locations. Each topic were also discussed in small groups in the frame of interactive workshops facilitated by the work package and activity leaders (for trainings: Water Research Institute, SK; for the activities connected to the toolbox: Technical University of Munich, DE). Working group participants jointly drafted both general and country/ region specific recommendations, and reported them back for the partnership.
Focal point of the meeting was to discuss and determine the structure and methodology of the DEEPWATER-CE toolbox, which will include selection criteria for MAR locations in Central Europe (CE) in terms of 3 aspects (thematic components): hydrogeology, climatology (climate change) and sensitivity analysis for extreme events. Partners agreed that the toolbox should support decision-making and planning processes on two levels: on national and (sub-)regional level, thus definition of the 3 sets of selection criteria has to fit to this 2-tier concept. Therefore, the toolbox will be composed to enable
1) a sequential country and regional level screening of hydrogeological suitability of areas for installing specific MAR techniques,
2) assessing the expected territorial climate change trends which can outline those CE regions that might be most in need of underground water storage in the 21th century, and
3) performing regional/ local level climate sensitivity analysis with assessing the potential impacts of extreme events such as droughts or floods on aquifers with a good potential of nesting MAR systems.
Thematic consultations on these topics will be followed by a next personal or online meeting of the partnership in March.
