Proposed method for groundwater vulnerability mapping in carbonate (karstic) aquifers: the COP method, 2006, As J, Andreo B, Perles M, Carrasco F, Vadillo I, Jim C,

The protection of karst waters. A comprehensive Slovene Approach to vulnerability and contamination risk mapping, 2007, Nataš, A Ravbar

A general approach for karst water vulnerability and contamination risk assessment has been proposed, taking into account the special characteristics of Slovene karst landscapes, suiting Slovene environmental legislation and enabling comparison across European countries. The so-called Slovene Approach has been developed on the basis of work accomplished by the European COST Action 620. It incorporates the strongly modified COP method for intrinsic vulnerability assessment by integrating temporal hydrological variability, offering a new possibility to combine surface and groundwater protection, as well as by adapting it to source vulnerability mapping. The methodology provides also comprehensive risk analyses based on the intrinsic vulnerability, hazard and (re)source importance assessments. The proposed Slovene Approach has been first applied to the Podstenjšek water source catchment. Different other methods have been applied (EPIK, PI, COP, Simplified method) and compared. For the catchment area delineation, application of different vulnerability and risk methods a holistic research of the test site has been done by means of tracer tests, detail structural-lithological and geomorphological mapping, electrical resistivity imaging, as well as detail hazard mapping. Continuous monitoring of the springs? physico-chemical characteristics has been performed for the hydrograph analyses, water balance calculation and aquifer behaviour comprehension. The resulting Slovene Approach intrinsic vulnerability, hazard and risk maps are justified and validation with tracer tests has proved the method to give plausible results. The resulting maps provide improved source protection zones determination and identification of land mismanagement, as well as reorganisation and better practices for future planning.

Karst morphology and groundwater vulnerability of high alpine karst plateaus, 2009, Plan L. , Decker K. , Faber R. , Wagreich M. , Grasemann B.

High alpine karst plateaus are recharge areas for major drinking water resources in the Alps and many other regions. Well-established methods for the vulnerability mapping of groundwater to contamination have not been applied to such areas yet. The paper characterises this karst type and shows that two common vulnerability assessment methods (COP and PI) classify most of the areas with high vulnerability classes. In the test site on the Hochschwab plateau (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria), overlying layers are mostly absent, not protective or even enhance point recharge, where they have aquiclude character. The COP method classifies 82% of the area as highly or extremely vulnerable. The resulting maps are reasonable, but do not differentiate vulnerabilities to the extent that the results can be used for protective measures. An extension for the upper end of the vulnerability scale is presented that allows identifying ultra vulnerable areas. The proposed enhancement of the conventional approach points out that infiltration conditions are of key importance for vulnerability. The method accounts for karst genetical and hydrologic processes using qualitative and quantitative properties of karst depressions and sinking streams including parameters calculated from digital elevations models. The method is tested on the Hochschwab plateau where 1.7% of the area is delineated as ultra vulnerable. This differentiation could not be reached by the COP and PI methods. The resulting vulnerability map highlights spots of maximum vulnerability and the combination with a hazard map enables protective measures for a manageable area and number of sites.

Comparative application of two methods (COP and PaPRIKa) for groundwater vulnerability mapping in Mediterranean karst aquifers (France and Spain) , 2011, Marin A. I. , Dorfliger N. , Andreo O.

A comparative test of two vulnerability mapping methods (COP and PaPRIKa) specifically dedicated to for karst aquifers was carried out on two Mediterranean carbonate aquifers. The vulnerability maps obtained for each aquifer present important differences. To identify and determine the origin of these differences, the results were statistically analyzed using sensitivity analysis, coefficients of determination and scatter graphs. In addition, the global vulnerability (Gv) parameter was used to measure the general vulnerability of the aquifer and to compare the results obtained. This statistical analysis led us to conclude that the main cause of differences between these two methods used to assess aquifer vulnerability lie in the relative importance of the parameters employed in calculating the vulnerability index. For the PaPRIKa method, the variable related to infiltration (slope and karst features) has the most influence, with less weight being assigned to the protective capacity of layers overlying the aquifer. For the COP method, the most influent variable is defined by the layers overlying the aquifer, together with infiltration characteristics, determined by the relative importance of different forms of infiltration in each aquifer. The vulnerability mappings performed using the COP method present greater coherence with the known hydrogeological behavior of the study areas, especially the Spanish aquifers. Nevertheless, further hydrogeological investigations are needed, such as ones to validate the obtained vulnerability maps.