Integrated groundwater management
in Denmark
Bjørn Kaare Jensen
Deputy Director General
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
Ministry of Climate and Energy
TAIEF Expert mission to China on Groundwater Monitoring
WRISD, Jinan, November 19 – 23, 2015
Main challenges
• Groundwater
contamination from
diffuse pollution and
point source pollution
• Groundwater overabstraction and depletion
due to geographically
uneven recharge
patterns
• Climate change effects
The bottom Line
Drinking water in Denmark for all
purposes is derived entirely from
groundwater and it is consumed after
very simple treatment and without
addition of chlorine
• Strong incentive to protect the
groundwater resources
• Strong incentive to save and reuse
groundwater and increase groundwater recharge
• High awareness on groundwater
protection in the population
• Basis for keeping high water price
Organisation of the Danish drinking water
supply
Decentralised drinking water
abstraction
• 80 major municipal water
companies
• 2500 smaller water works
• 75000 private wells
Water consumption app. 600
– 700 mill. M3/y, domestic
use app. 2/3
From groundwater to drinking water – very
simple treatment
Water treatment plant
Well
Aeration
Filtration
Flush water
Groundwater
Water tank
Customers
Integrated groundwater management –
multiple purposes
• Ensure supply of safe and enough drinking water for
various users (household, agriculture, industry,
recreational, etc.)
• Protect against contamination from point sources
and diffuse sources
• Ensure compliance with WFD in terms of maintenance and/or restoring environmental acceptable
standard of water bodies
• Water cycle management in relation to climate
change issues
Groundwater management in Denmark rests on
6 ground pillars
1.
2.
3.
4.
Strong tradition/long history
Strong knowledge/research base
National commitment
Transparent and non-bureaucratic regulatory
system
5. Partnerships across the sector
6. Public (and political) concern and awareness
Organisation of the Danish groundwater
management system
• Ministry of the Environment and Food is responsible for the overall
planning, protection, mapping, monitoring and climate adaptation as well
as legislation and guidance documents
• 5 regional authorities take care of remediation of contaminated sites
• 98 municipalities are responsible for concrete measures to counteract
contamination and climate change effects, water action plans, licensing as
well as waste water treatment
• Water supply companies and water works take care of water abstraction
and drinking water supply
• The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) cooperates with
the Nature Agency in the implementation of the monitoring and mapping
programmes, is responsible for data storage and maintains databases
Data and research as a management basis
The strong knowledge/research base - Examples
of Danish water RTD programs
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
NPo research program (1985 - 90)
Soil and groundwater program (1993 – 95)
Contaminated site technology development program (1996 - 2015)
Strategic Environmental Research program (1992 - 2004)
Pesticide Research Program (1992 – 2015)
Testing Centre for Water Technology (2012 – 15)
Foundation for Development of Technology in the Danish Water
Sector - VTU (2011 – 15)
• Development of Environmental Technology – MUDP (2010 – 2015)
Key elements of the Danish groundwater
management concept
• A national program for mapping of groundwater aquifers used for
drinking water supply across the country (300 mill. EUR)
• A national groundwater monitoring program (3 mill. EUR/y)
• A national program for point source mapping and remediation of sites (50
- 100 mill. EUR/y)
• A national water resource model – the DK model
• Publicly accessible groundwater databases harbouring all data from
mapping and monitoring activities and well as drinking water quality data
• A newly launched national cloud burst program for measures against
flooding, including inland groundwater flooding (1,5 billion EUR in Cph)
• Several RTD programs devoted to soil and groundwater covering the
whole innovation chain
The 4 M’s as a basis for groundwater
management in Denmark
Integrated
Management
Modelling
Monitoring
Mapping
Measurement
Groundwater mapping with SkyTEM
Detailed information right from
ground surface to 2 – 300 m’s
depth
Sand = groundwater
Clay = no groundwater
Different types of groundwater monitoring
• The groundwater monitoring programme as a
part of the National Monitoring Programme on
the Aquatic Environment and the Nature
(NOVANA)
• Monitoring of drinking water production wells
• Monitoring of point source pollution from
contaminated sites and landfills
• Monitoring of site remediation performance
Groundwater monitoring in DK
• NOVANA is coordinated by The Ministry of the Environment and Food
(MFVM), operated by the Nature Agency in MEV, national budget with
research institutes in charge of content and development, guidelines to
uniform, certified labs
• First national groundwater table monitoring programme in 1950
• In 1987, a political agreement on a new programme
• 2004: The national groundwater table monitoring programme is
integrated in the overall monitoring programme
• Revised every 6th year – substances in and out – shifting focus; next time
2016
• Initial focus of nutrients, then pesticides, now quantity – integrating
surface and groundwater
• Annual national reporting
Groundwater databases
• Jupiter (3’rd generation database)
– Wells (geology, technical completion, water levels,
groundwater chemistry, scanned well reports, …)
– Water works (drinking water chemistry, abstraction)
• Gerda
– Shallow geophysical data (electric, electromagnetic, seismic,
borehole logs)
• ModelDB
– 3D geological and hydrogeological models
• ReportDB
– Digital reports about hydrogeology
National Water Resource Model
DK-model
Objectives:
• To assess groundwater recharge at large scale /at
groundwater body level
• To assess the size of the groundwater resource and
the rate of exploitation taking into account land-use,
climate change effects and abstraction strategy
• Assess the size of the exploitable groundwater
resource
• Platform for more detailed models
• Developed by GEUS
Climate change effects on the water cycle
• More precipitation and cloudbursts leading to Groundwater
flooding (adverse effects on agriculture and urban infrastructure)
• Enhanced transport of contaminants in soil and groundwater
leading to renewed exposure of contaminants in landfills and
contaminated sites
• Enhanced salt water intrusion in coastal areas due to sea level rise
• Enhanced breaking and leakage from sewer systems leading to
higher risk of groundwater contamination
• Drought leading to lowering of water table and soil subsidence
requiring revised groundwater abstraction strategies
• More infiltration of rainwater in the cities leading to elevated
groundwater levels and potential damage to infrastructure
Input from groundwater monitoring to
groundwater management and vice versa
• Selection of parameters for the compulsory control of the
water quality in the abstraction wells for water production
• Input to administration of the use of pesticides
• New parameters or focus addressing upcoming policy needs –
as implementing EU legislation
• Focus on bad quality in shallow groundwater – investigation of
private dug and drilled wells
• Basis for assessment of possible adverse effects from groundwater surface water interactions
Thank you for your attention!