This page offers the information derived from the study entitled "Flow measurement work in springs and levels in Segura Hydrographic Demarcation".
The objective of making water use and the environment compatible has led the Segura Hydrographic Confederation to develop an extensive network of controls over springs, lagoons and wetlands in which the contribution of groundwater is relevant. The knowledge obtained will constitute part of the basic information for the development of guidelines for action in order to preserve ecosystems related to groundwater, preventing their deterioration and improving the environmental quality of these spaces as much as possible.
This set of stations was launched in 2006 and is currently made up of more than 130 points that control the flow of springs, the piezometry of wetlands and the piezometric levels of wells and nearby boreholes to these.
Control network of springs and wetlands of the Segura hydrographic demarcation
La Hydrographic Demarcation experiences a series of pressures of a quantitative nature and on the quality of water derived from population growth and economic activity, in which irrigated agriculture plays an important role. The limitations imposed by the availability of surface resources and the contributions of the Tajo-Segura transfer, have in many cases been supplemented by an intensive use of groundwater, which has regulated the natural discharge of aquifers in large areas.
When human pressure on natural resources was still small, there was a wide diversity of aquatic environments related to springs and puddles that structured the territory, in a fragile balance between development and water landscapes. But the depletion of many springs or the reduction of their flows impacted, in several cases in a severe way, on some of the most characteristic humid environments, on the water flows in rivers and on the boulevards, contributing to an intensification of the aridity of the medium and helping to intensify the impact of droughts.
Currently, the maintenance of biological diversity related to aquatic environments has been fully incorporated into hydrological planning processes in Spain and throughout Europe, promoted by the Water Framework Directive. Its principles have enriched water legislation with a large number of environmental safeguards aimed at achieving a sustainable use of water resources.
The data from this study "Measurement work of flows in springs and hydrometric and piezometric levels in wetlands of the Segura basin" are pending validation, are not official and, therefore, should not be considered data related to the official networks of foronomy and piezometry.
