Research Lines

Aquifers adjacent to the sea can be affected by seawater intrusion, especially when their exploitation through pumping is excessive. Coastal areas also concentrate water demand during the summer as they are very popular tourist destinations, which leads to increased extractions precisely during the driest season due to the temporary rise in population and associated activities. On the other hand, during periods of lower aquifer exploitation, freshwater discharge into the sea occurs, which can have significant impacts due to the transport of pollutants from land, affecting coastal marine ecosystems. In other cases, where the groundwater is not contaminated, the discharge of freshwater into the sea constitutes a loss of high-quality resources that could potentially be avoided. However, submarine discharge is difficult to measure and quantify since it occurs under the sea, and as a result, there is limited knowledge about this water flow along most of the world’s coastlines.

In karst aquifers, groundwater primarily flows through conduits formed by the dissolution of rock over long periods of time, with a circulation speed much faster than in porous aquifers. This makes them systems that respond very quickly to recharge from rainfall, causing spring discharge to be highly variable depending on recent rainfall.

This characteristic also makes them more vulnerable to contamination due to the minimal filtration from recharge areas. Karst aquifers present challenges in terms of studying and exploiting them, as the flow is concentrated in preferential directions that follow the main karstified fractures, which are not always easy to locate.

However, the water stored in carbonate aquifers is essential in many areas of the world, as they provide abundant springs with very high-quality water that has significant economic and social value.

Aquifer recharge management is the only technique that allows for the increase of water resources in aquifers. There are numerous techniques to carry out this activity, and there is intense activity associated with water reuse or promoting aquifer recharge during surplus periods.

However, despite its evident usefulness, there are many gaps in knowledge regarding its practical application, from the perspectives of execution, impact on aquifers, and how to address it at the regulatory level.

Due to the complexity of aquifer systems, tools are needed that allow for simplification while also integrating the main characteristics to carry out simulations of the system’s functioning and predictions about the impacts that different actions might have.

The placement of new pumping points, the construction of infrastructures that affect groundwater, or anticipating the effects of climate change are common objectives of groundwater flow modeling.

However, this valuable tool requires specialized personnel with advanced knowledge in modeling and managing large databases, which are essential to obtain reliable results.

The interactions between surface water and groundwater trigger biogeochemical processes with numerous implications for ecosystems.

Furthermore, the exchanges that take place between aquifers and lakes, rivers, and other bodies of surface water occur at multiple temporal and spatial scales, creating systems that are difficult to characterize.

This type of study requires the use of specific tools specially adapted to the study environments, such as temperature, the use of exfiltrometers, and natural tracers like stable isotopes of O and H or radon.

Caves are very sensitive and fragile systems where unique conditions for biological species are detected. Their exploitation as natural monuments helps society understand the importance of their protection but, at the same time, alters the natural regime that has been maintained for thousands of years, with the introduction of lights or increased CO2 levels due to visitors’ respiration.

Only very rigorous control of the conditions would allow for a sustainable balance between system protection and tourism activities.