Sustainability of mining activities in the European Mediterranean region in terms of a spatial groundwater stress index

Varouchakis, Emmanouil; Perez, Gerald A. Corzo; Loaiza, Andrés Díaz; Spanoudaki, Katerina

doi:10.1016/j.spasta.2022.100625

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…In agreement, Huang et.al [41], Abera et al [42], and Bera et al [43] reported that agricultural activities were identified as potential sources of aquifer contamination in China, Ethiopia, and India, respectively. Despite the fact that mining activity has been widely classified as a potential contaminant of aquifer systems [17,44,45], this study shows that areas with agricultural activity in the Ponce Enriquez area represent a high risk of contamination and, therefore, they must be monitored.…”

Section: Aquifer Risk Of Contamination Assessment (R C )mentioning

confidence: 90%

Risk Assessment of Groundwater Contamination in the Gala, Tenguel, and Siete River Basins, Ponce Enriquez Mining Area—Ecuador

et al. 2022

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Groundwater is a strategic resource, which is experiencing a growing threat of contamination worldwide. This study aimed to assess the vulnerability of the groundwaters in the basins of the rivers Gala, Tenguel, and Siete in the Ponce Enriquez mining area, considering as a hypothesis that anthropogenic activities (mainly mining and agricultural) conducted in the area generate a high risk of contamination. Vulnerability to contamination was quantified using the DRASTIC and GOD methods. In addition, the risk of contamination (Rc) was calculated considering the vulnerability index (IV) and the danger index (IP). Geographic information system (GIS) environment was used for the spatial analysis and the generation of vulnerability maps. The DRASTIC method showed that the negligible-to-low vulnerability category was predominant (50.7% of the area), followed by moderate vulnerability (25.6%), and high-to-extreme vulnerability (23.7%). Regarding the GOD method, the low and medium vulnerability categories were predominant in 41.4% and 27.5% of the area, respectively. Both methods agree that the center area, where the mining activities are located, has a vulnerability ranging from negligible to moderate. The IP was low in the eastern zone (58.7 km2) and ranged from moderate (426.2 km2) to high in the central and western zones (371.1 km2), where mining activities predominate. The RC revealed that 20% of the study area corresponded to a high contamination index; from which, 87% comes from agricultural activities, 9% from mining activities, and 4% due to shrimp farms and urban areas. This is the first study that evaluates the vulnerability to the contamination of groundwater in a mining area of Ecuador. The results of this research can serve as a baseline for future research, since the methodology used provides information on the priority areas for the protection of aquifers, considering the current land use in the study area.

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Section: Aquifer Risk Of Contamination Assessment (R C )mentioning

confidence: 90%

Risk Assessment of Groundwater Contamination in the Gala, Tenguel, and Siete River Basins, Ponce Enriquez Mining Area—Ecuador

et al. 2022

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“…The initial phase of quarry categorization involved the identification of parameters that could potentially affect the quality and quantity of water resources in extraction areas. For this purpose, relevant parameters from models discussed in existing literature have been considered [7,11,15,31,32,35], taking into account their availability in the databases. Due to the considerable number of quarries, the scale of investigation and the actual availability of data, a simplified version of the conceptual model of the impact has been adopted.…”

Section: Conceptual Model Of the Impact Of Quarries On Water Resource...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extractive industries play a relevant part in promoting social and economic well-being by providing raw materials, facilitating the development of infrastructure, generating wealth for the communities and creating job opportunities [1]. However, mining operations may have several negative environmental and social impacts, including changes in the natural environment, soil erosion, air and water pollution, noises, vibrations, conflicts among local communities and threats to human safety [2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Categorization of the Potential Impact of Italian Quarries on Water Resources through a Multi-Criteria Decision Aiding-Based Model

Paoletti,

Piscopo,

Sbarbati

et al. 2024

Sustainability

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Quarrying has great importance for economic development and, at the same time, can have several adverse environmental impacts; specifically, it may have a significant influence on water resources. There are approximately 4000 quarries in Italy, and knowledge of their potential impact on water resources is limited. To this end, a procedure for categorizing Italian quarries was devised by combining the methods of Geographic Information Systems and Multi-Criteria Decision Aiding, selecting the potentially impactful criteria, and parametrizing the latter through the available databases. Using the ELECTRE models (ELECTRE TRI and ELECTRE III), the impact category of each quarry was assessed separately for surface water and groundwater and then the overall impact on water resources was assessed. The simulations were carried out by varying the weights of the various selected criteria, which allowed the grouping of Italian quarries into five categories with increasing potential impact on water resources. The ranking of quarries falling into the two highest-impact categories was further refined using ascending and descending distillations. The categorization can be interpreted as a first national assessment of the sustainability of quarrying activities with reference to water resources. The methodological approach of the study proved to be appropriate for the quarry-sorting and -ranking processes, lending itself to the introduction of other criteria and weights, including those arising from the participation of different stakeholders.

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“…The proximity of economic distance to spatial distance [27][28][29] and the state of the industrial development environment [30,31] are crucial determinants for tourists when making decisions about travel destinations. Consequently, in Eq (1), we have introduced modifications to the gravity model to gauge the level of tourism cooperation links, which take into account these two indispensable factors, namely the industrial development environment and economic distance.…”

Section: Tourism Cooperation Ties Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tourism cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative from economic and spatial insights

Yin,

Ni,

Fan

2024

PLoS ONE

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This study examines the potential benefits of cooperation among Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries in achieving common goals within the international tourism cooperation network. Despite its significance, limited research has been conducted on this topic in terms of economic and spatial insights. To address this gap, we utilized the gravity model, social network, and quadratic regression. The revealed findings suggest that while the intermediary function among BRI countries is declining, the tourism cooperation network is gradually strengthening. Furthermore, reducing the gap between the governance and consumption levels of BRI countries can improve the network. The study offers new insights into the BRI tourism cooperation network, which could be critical for the future growth of regional tourism.

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Sustainability of mining activities in the European Mediterranean region in terms of a spatial groundwater stress index

Cited by 7 publications

References 48 publications

Risk Assessment of Groundwater Contamination in the Gala, Tenguel, and Siete River Basins, Ponce Enriquez Mining Area—Ecuador

Risk Assessment of Groundwater Contamination in the Gala, Tenguel, and Siete River Basins, Ponce Enriquez Mining Area—Ecuador

Categorization of the Potential Impact of Italian Quarries on Water Resources through a Multi-Criteria Decision Aiding-Based Model

Tourism cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative from economic and spatial insights

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