AGREEMAR – A PRIMA project: Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area

Water scarcity

Challenges

The availability of water resources in Mediterranean countries is characterized by uneven spatio-temporal distribution and is heavily affected by agricultural intensification, necessity to sustain the rapid population growth, and extensive tourism in coastal areas.

Sustainable aquifer-based solutions are needed to store water between seasons in order to fulfil optimal water provisions for food security, domestic supply and preservation of natural groundwater-dependent ecosystems.

Methodology

Our solution

AGREEMAR proposes an integrated and coordinated methodology to assess and map the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) in the Mediterranean basin and safeguard its success through the implementation of an adaptive governance framework. This will be achieved through:

Feasibility mapping

Development of a methodology for the selection of feasible locations for MAR application based on the integration of demand for groundwater-dependent services, conventional and non-conventional water sources, and intrinsic hydrogeological conditions.

Groundwater modelling

Validation of the feasibility maps through numerical models at watershed and local scale to assess the improvements in reliability, vulnerability and resilience provided by the inclusion of MAR schemes in water management schemes.

Governance systems

Development of a general participatory governance framework at regional level and implementation of co-created location-specific agreements for MAR benefits sharing endorsed by cross-sectoral stakeholder groups.

Stakeholders engagement

Implementation of a participative multi-actor approach for fostering the engagement of stakeholders from different societal sectors and actor groups in all stages of project development.

The AGREEMAR project

At a glance

The AGREEMAR project is funded by the National Funding Agencies from Germany, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain under the PRIMA program, the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area.

Learn more about our project:

About the project

The AGREEMAR project will develop an adaptive governance framework integrated with a set of management tools that will assist water policy makers and water managers to reach sustainable water resources management.

Demonstration sites

The selected of four case studies in Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia will validate the proposed methodology and enable its integration into a larger context at the level of the entire Mediterranean basin and worldwide.

Work plan

The project includes six work packages distributed along 36 months, covering stakeholders’ engagement, MAR feasibility mapping, development of governance frameworks and agreements implementation, and project management.

Partners

AGREEMAR includes six partners: universities, public companies, and national research centres from Germany, Spain, Cyprus, Portugal and Tunisia, together with stakeholders from four Mediterranean regional clusters.

Objectives

The aim of AGREEMAR is to optimize the hydrological balance in Mediterranean countries by developing governance models, management strategies, costs-benefits analyses, technical specifications and simulation tools.

PRIMA Program

The Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean (PRIMA) is funding projects that contribute to sustainable use of natural resources, economic growth and stability in the Mediterranean region.

Join our efforts to improve the methodology for MAR feasibility mapping!

Online survey

Focus regions

Demo sites

The project methodology will be demonstrated at four sites from Tunisia, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain. All regions selected are vulnerable to climate change effects and face intense groundwater exploitation for agriculture and tourism with significant declines of groundwater levels and seawater intrusion impacts.

Managed aquifer recharge

What is MAR?

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is a nature-inspired solution that aims at intentionally recharging the aquifers with surface water for later use or environmental benefits. One of the main characteristics of MAR is that it provides for water storage in the subsurface in comparison with conventional storage in big surface reservoirs.

: The role of managed aquifer recharge in water resources management (Source: adapted from California Department of Water Resources)

What's new

Latest News

AGREEMAR at the International Training Course on “Conjunctive Management of Surface and Groundwater in the Mediterranean”

We are thrilled to announce that the AGREEMAR project was recently showcased by Prof. Joaquín Andreu during an international Training Course on “Conjunctive Management of Surface and Groundwater in the Mediterranean”. This event, organized by UNESCO, took place on 17-10 May 2023 at the Júcar River Basin Agency, in Valencia (Spain), and brought together water management experts, researchers, and policymakers. …

Researcher from UPV conducting a research stay in Tunisia

From February 27, 2023, to March 13, 2023, Syrine Ghannem, member of the AGREEMAR project at the Polytechnic University of Valencia visited the National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia in order to carry out a stay within the scope of work package 3 of the AGREEMAR project. During this stay, she visited different Tunisian institutions in order to better understand the …

Dr Khaoula Khemiri is the newest member of the AGREEMAR project team

Starting with 15 April 2023, the AGREEMAR team became bigger. Our Tunisian partner INAT received a new valuable member: Dr Khaoula Khemiri will work as postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Agronomy of University of Carthage. Dr Khemiri holds a PhD in Hydraulic Engineering from the National Engineering School of Tunis (ENIT). She also holds a master degree in …

AGREEMAR presented at the 16th Portuguese Water Congress in Lisbon, Portugal

Dr. Teresa Leitão (LNEC) presenting the AGREEMAR project at the 16th Portuguese Water Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, on 22 March 2022 (photo: Tiago Martins) On 22 March, the World Water Day, the AGREEMAR project was presented by Dr. Teresa Leitão at the 16th Portuguese Water Congress in Lisbon, Portugal. The talk entitled “Promoting Managed Aquifer Recharge Implementation in the Mediterranean …

Meeting of the Steering Committee of AGREEMAR in Tunisia

The first meeting of the Steering Committee (STC) of AGREEMAR project in Tunisia took place in the National Agronomical Institute of Tunisia on 14 March 2023 from 09:00 to 12:30. First meeting of the Steering Committee of AGREEMAR in Tunisia. 14 March 2023 (photo: Anis Chkirbene) Participants from eight institutions in narrow relation to MAR attended this meeting. After a …

Brief note on the field visit conducted to Comporta WWTP / MAR site and local modelling area

The National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC), with the authorization and collaboration of Águas do Alentejo SA (AgdA), has been continuously monitoring in the last month the groundwater temperature, electrical conductivity and level in the Comporta WWTP / MAR site. The information gathered will provide a deeper insight on the aquifer conceptual model, particularly in understanding the possible interactions with the …

AGREEMAR team is growing: Marcel Horovitz joined the project partner LNEC

Starting with March 2023, the project team at the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC) will benefit of a new member. Marcel Horovitz is currently developing his PhD thesis on the subject of Soil-Aquifer Treatment at LNEC, Portugal and TU Darmstadt, Germany. He holds a german Diploma in Geology with emphasis in Hydrogeology and worked four years as hydrogeologist in …

AGREEMAR presented by the Cypriot partners at the Cyprus Info Day – PRIMA 2023 event

On 9 February 2023, the Cypriot partner Dr. Konstantinos Panagiotou presented the AGREEMAR project as invited speaker to the online event “Cyprus Info Day – PRIMA Call 2023”. The seminar was organised by the Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus and introduced the topics of the 2023 Call of the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean (PRIMA), under which also the AGREEMAR …

Visiting student conducting a three-month internship at UPV in Valencia

From 6 February to 6 May 2023, the Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) is hosting Oskar Bensch, a visiting student from Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in Germany. At MLU, Oskar is enrolled in a Master programme on Applied Geosciences with a focus on Hydrogeology. The first contact with the AGREEMAR team dates …

LNEC launches a call for awarding a research fellowship

Our partners LNEC launched a call for awarding a research fellowship within the AGREEMAR project. The fellowship will be granted for one year with the possibility to extend it up to 16 months. The selected research fellow will participate in several R&D activities within the framework of the project, more specifically in: contribute to inventory and collect available information related …

Adaptive agreements on benefits sharing for managed aquifer recharge in the Mediterranean region