Karst Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment (KAVA) Method—A Novel GIS-Based Method for Deep Karst Aquifers

Abstract

Karst aquifers in the Dinaric karst are very rich with groundwater and are a very important resource for public water supply. The characteristics of the Dinaric karst are the lack, or very thin layer, of covering deposits, large amounts of precipitations, high groundwater velocities, very deep groundwater flow with a lot of faults and fault zones, pits to groundwater, concentrated sinking and large karst springs, making them extremely vulnerable to all anthropogenic influences, which are very quickly transmitted to the aquifer. Numerous multiparameter methods have been developed in the last 20 years to determine the level of vulnerability of aquifers. Each of them has its own specifics and is well adapted to the climate and region for which it was developed. The Karst Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment (KAVA) method was developed in accordance with all the characteristics of the deep karst aquifers of the Dinaric karst and tested on several basins in the area. It was developed as a part of the Global Environment Facility United Nations Environmental Programme – the Mediterranean Action Plan Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (GEF UNEP/MAP MedPartnership Project). This paper presents the KAVA method and its application to two characteristic karst basins of the Dinaric karst: the Novljanska Žrnovnica spring catchment area and the Bakar Bay catchment area.

Uloga nagiba padina, gustoće vrtača i analize vodne bilance u izdvajanju kompleksnog slivnog područja rijeke Slunjčice (Hrvatska)

“…Dolines are readily identifiable areal features, and their locations are typically mapped for engineering and safety concerns and flooding hazards (Ford et al, 1997;Shofner et al, 2001;Angel et al, 2004). Doline density is variable and commonly used in models to assess aquifer vulnerability (Crawford and Veni, 1986;Ray et al, 1993;Doerfliger et al, 1999;Kochanov and Reese, 2003;Arthur et al, 2007;Biondić et al, 2021). It has been shown that high dolines density areas and strong fissuring corresponds to the areas with high and very high aquifer vulnerability (Moreno-Gómez et al, 2019).…”

Quantitative assessment of ecological assets in the world heritage karst sites based on remote sensing: with a special reference to South China Karst

“…Karst is one of the most outstanding landscapes in the world [22], concentrated in central and southern Europe, eastern North America, and eastern Asia, with an area of 22 million km2 [23,24]. The karst area of China accounts for more than 1/3 of the total land area, mainly concentrated in the South China Karst centered on the Guizhou Plateau, with an area of 550000 km2 [25].…”

Vulnerability and Risk of Contamination of the Varaždin Aquifer System, NW Croatia

“…However, due to simplicity of use, semi-quantitativeindex-based methods-prevail. Most studies use a single groundwater vulnerability model (e.g., [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]), while those using two or multiple models are less common (e.g., [16][17][18][19][20]). Despite their widespread use, there are only a few groundwater vulnerability studies in Croatia, all of which are focused on karst aquifers, with the application of a single [12,15,21] or several groundwater vulnerability models [22].…”