This focal area aims to enhance knowledge of groundwater quality and groundwater protection policy. Many Member States included aspects of groundwater quality protection for drinking and other uses in their priorities for IHP VIII.
Establishment and operation of national groundwater quality monitoring networks effectively supports sustainable groundwater quality management, provides valuable data for assessing the current state of and forecasting trends in groundwater quality and helps to clarify and analyze the extent of natural processes and human impacts on groundwater system in time and space. Hydrochemical maps depicting groundwater chemical types and quality are useful tools for regulatory and managerial purposes and help planners make informed, environmentally sound decisions regarding groundwater protection and quality conservation. Additional research is needed in the modeling of hydro-geochemical processes and in the study of the chemical and isotopic evolution of groundwater. This focal area addresses groundwater quality management with the view to improving groundwater pollution prevention policy, mitigate pollution risk and enhance effective in situ pollution remediation techniques.