Concepts on Groundwater Resources

Abstract

When dealing with groundwater and water resources in general, various conceptual terms are used by different persons, experts and organizations. They are often applied without a clear-cut definition. This produces poor precision in the language, misinterpretations and uncertain evaluations that make figures difficult to be compared. Proposing a terminology is not a simple task if it has to agree to hydrogeological processes and the related environmental ones. This is a task that has to be done. Lack of precise definition of terms can be found in the Water Plans performed by the different water districts in Spain, as well as in the legal norms. Here, a synthetic proposal is done, following the sequence of hydrological-hydrogeological processes, pointing out some of the most used terms. Part of them may coexist but others should be discarded. Some of the terms to be considered when referring to groundwater are: use, demand, consumption, recharge, resource, exploitation, intensive exploitation, water mining, and recovery time. The English, Spanish and Catalan terms are given.