CONFERENCE TO LAUNCH THE EUROPEAN AQUIFER PROJECT
Last 5th of March CWP participated in the launching conference of the European project AQUIFER with more than 130 attendees, a project of which CWP is a partner. This project is funded by the SUDOE programme and aims to implement innovative systems for the management and mitigation of risks related to groundwater resources.
The inauguration of the conference was given by José Manuel Murillo, Director of the General Hydrogeology and Water Quality Area of the Spanish Geographic and Mining Institute (IGME). Afterwards, José Luis García, Head of the Aquifer Project, presented the project, its objectives and activities, which are focused on the consolidation of a standardised and validated methodology for the management and monitoring of the quality and quantity of groundwater, as well as the testing of new equipment and systems in various demonstrations. Then Ana María Alonso, Director of the IGME, Jordi Barbará, President of the User Community of the Vall Baixa del Delta del Llobregat (CUADLL), Jordi Cros, President of the CWP and Pablo Amor of the Comunidad de Regantes del Campo de Cartagena (CRCC), all of them Spanish partners of the project, presented their organisation, highlighting the importance and impact of the Aquifer project on the Spanish territory, linked to the preservation of groundwater as a resource, the improvement of its management, especially for its use in the agricultural sector, and the prevention of risks and dangers due to pollution.
Finally, the event included the round table moderated by Enric Queralt, Technical Director of CUADLL, ‘The importance of groundwater in the context of water scarcity’. The round table was attended by Bartolomé Andrea, President of the Spanish Group of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, Emili Custodio, Professor Emeritus, Member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences and former director of the IGME, Alfredo Pérez, Director of the Technical Unit of concessions of the Catalan Water Agency, Yvan Caballero, Director of the BRGM project, and Teresa Leitao, hydrogeology expert at LNEC, who agreed that groundwater is, more than ever, a strategic resource of growing importance in areas such as the preservation of the environment and agriculture.
The day concluded with a round of questions and discussion with the attendees. The AQUIFER project has been running since November 2020, has a duration of 30 months and a total budget of more than 1.6 MEUR. CWP’s role in this project is to establish contact with companies to gather information on innovative groundwater management technologies, support the replicability of project activities, organise conferences and events, and involve stakeholders in the sector in project activities. Two other European clusters also participate in AQUIFER: Aquavalley and the Portuguese Water Partnership.
