Management of Aquifers - Hydrogeology: Objectives, Methods, Applications - page 211

Research funding is distributed sparingly, and fi nancing a hydrogeology
thesis on regional topics, such as the study of an alluvial aquifer or of a karst
spring, becomes a real headache. And yet, if the fi nancial consequences of
a dry year or of great fl ooding events are added up, the sums in play are
considerable, and could fi nance thousands of theses! The cost of the Nîmes
disaster (destructive fl ood) in 1998, tied to urban development projects
undertaken without a proper understanding of the thalwegs crossing the
city and the aquifers that feed them, adds up to 600 million euros. As a PhD
costs around 100,000 euros (salary and expenses), that would have been
enough money to fi nance 6,000 researchers.
2.2 Acquisition of knowledge on the scale of the aquifer
2.2.1 Goals
This must enable the defi nition of the three functions of the aquifer:
￿ capacitative function: characteristics of the materials, geometry, and
limits of the aquifer;
￿ conductive function: defi nition of the natural and artifi cial infl uxes,
defi nition of hydrodynamic characteristics, inventory of extraction
points, estimation of exchanges with superfi cial hydrosystems and
other aquifers;
￿ reactive function: definition of physico-chemical and biological
parameters of the water, monitoring of their evolution, inventory of
pollutions.
This knowledge is very unequal across regions, aquifers of different
natures, and resources in use for varying lengths of time.
2.2.2 Study and monitoring tools
Aquifer study methods were described in part B. Advances in electronics
and new technology now enable the possibility of placing low-cost remote
autonomous measuring stations, transmitting information through a
GSM communication network or a landline. Infl ows and outfl ows to karst
systems can be understood, as can the characteristics of groundwater
(Figure 108).