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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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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 (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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The first newsletter of our PRIMA-funded project AGREEMAR brings a summary of the first six months of the project: a draft strategy and plan for stakeholders’ engagement in the project and beyond a new participative research methodology for mapping the geospatial feasibility of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) short reports from our project events, including the project kick-off meeting in Dresden reports from our stakeholders’ engagement workshops …
The Research Group INOWAS at TUD proposes the following research topic for a Masters’ student: Analysis of the effects of MAR on the local groundwater system through groundwater flow modelling of the Akrotiri MAR scheme, Cyprus Background Enhancing groundwater recharge by storing surplus water in the subsurface in times of high availability followed by recovery in times of high demand …
On behalf of the AGREEMAR consortium, the project partner Dr. Constantinos Panagiotou from the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence in Cyprus attended between 27-30 November 2022 the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Mediterranean Geosciences Union (MedGU-22) in Marrakech, Morocco. Dr. Constantinos Panagiotou from the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence in Cyprus attending the 2ndAnnual Meeting of the Mediterranean Geosciences Union in Marrakesh, …
We are happy to share some great news from Portugal: the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic has recently recommended the Government to encourage the development of projects and initiatives that contribute to the operationalisation of the managed aquifer recharge, as a complementary water resources management solution in the face of worsening drought scenarios, evaluating and safeguarding adequately any environmental impacts. The two …
