The “Protecting Groundwater” project aims to promote sustainable management of water resources and alleviate pollution of groundwater in Mediterranean Basins.
In November 2011 a new project for protecting groundwater in the Mediterranean Basin was established. FoEME is teaming up with the province of Malaga, Spain in order to promote sustainable groundwater resources in the Mediterranean Basin. The project is funded by the European Commission’s ENPI (European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument).
Communities in the Jordan Valley, Palestinian Authority and in some communities in Israel lack the necessary sewage treatment facilities and suffer from pollution due to cesspits. Malaga in southern Spain struggles with huge discharges of waste water from both industry (e. g. animal farming) and agricultural sewage into the ground water aquifer.
Click on the links for more specific project programming in Israel, in Jordan, in the P.A., and in Spain.
For many years, FoEME has been developing experience and best practices related to ground water issues. The lack of awareness and the capacity to deal with the sources of pollution to groundwater are the main challenges of this project.
To address this need, the project partners will set up a collaborative training program for municipal staff from selected Mediterranean Basin municipalities.
By (means):
• Improving technical and administrative skills in selected local and regional municipalities
• Promoting joint awareness campaigns on common challenges regarding the pollution of groundwater across the Mediterranean Basin
Measures (program):
• Monitoring and Mapping Hazards, from Data collection to wised Information (Evaluation of and Risks to GW )
• Using Hazards maps and Risk Models as Instrument to Support Decisions Makers –
• Prevention and reduction of risk factors for environment, and enhancement of natural common heritage
Other objectives:
• Building a broad and collaborative network of Mediterranean Basin municipal staff who can share knowledge and experiences on the protection and management of natural groundwater sources
• Creating commitment within the selected Mediterranean Basin municipalities to improve environmental performance within their jurisdictions using best practice guidelines
Expected results:
• GIS maps of hazards and pollution
• Spatial hydrological model calculating the excepted risk to groundwater from different hazards in watershed
• Hazard Reduction and Prevention Guidelines
• Trained municipal workers
• Mediterranean network of skilled municipal workers
• Municipal hazards audit report and implementation report
• Increasing public awareness through dissemination of the project
Final beneficiaries:
• Local populations from 28 municipalities participating in the project (1,480,000 residents);
• All other residents in Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Spain who consume water from the same water sources
_______________________________________________________
This project document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.
http://foeme.org/www/?module=projects&project_id=172