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Groundwater Monitoring and Methods for Sustainable Resource Management Under Climate and Anthropogenic Pressures

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 1399

Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Sanitary Engineering and Water Management, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Mickiewicza Av. 21, 31-120 Krakow, Poland
Interests: water resources; groundwater and surface water protection and management; natural attenuation; therapeutic waters; geothermal waters; hydropower
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Mineral Resources and Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland
Interests: hydrogeology; water resources management; groundwater

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Groundwater constitutes one of the most strategic components of global water resources, serving as a primary source of drinking water, agricultural supply, and industrial use. However, increasing climate variability and intensifying anthropogenic pressures significantly affect groundwater quantity, quality, and long-term availability.

This Special Issue focuses specifically on modern monitoring systems and advanced hydrogeodynamic analysis methods supporting sustainable groundwater management. Emphasis is placed on innovative approaches that improve the assessment of groundwater resources, enhance protection strategies, and enable forecasting of system responses to climate change and human activities.

The Issue aims to create a scientific platform integrating hydrogeological investigations, numerical modelling, field monitoring, and management-oriented decision-support tools.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Groundwater monitoring systems and data integration;
  • Hydrogeological boreholes and observation well analysis;
  • Advanced hydrogeodynamic modeling and numerical simulations;
  • Assessment of available groundwater resources;
  • Protection of groundwater quality and contamination risk assessment;
  • Impact of climate change on groundwater systems;
  • Anthropogenic pressures and sustainable abstraction strategies;
  • Decision-support tools for groundwater resource management.

This Special Issue seeks to strengthen the link between advanced hydrogeological methods and sustainable resource governance, contributing to improved resilience and adaptive groundwater management strategies.

Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Operacz
Dr. Bogusław Bielec
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable water management
  • water recycling
  • water reuse
  • circular economy
  • wastewater treatment
  • water policy
  • climate resilience
  • nature-based solutions
  • water–energy nexus

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

33 pages, 11524 KB  
Article
Springs as Natural Sensors for Sustainable Groundwater Monitoring: Bridging Hydrodynamics, Telemetry and System Constraints
by Małgorzata Jarosz, Agnieszka Operacz and Karolina Migdał
Sustainability 2026, 18(9), 4293; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094293 - 26 Apr 2026
Viewed by 1165
Abstract
Groundwater is a key strategic resource underpinning water security, and its effective management requires reliable, high-frequency monitoring data. In mountainous regions such as the flysch Carpathians in southern Poland, natural springs are particularly sensitive indicators of aquifer system dynamics. This study analyzes the [...] Read more.
Groundwater is a key strategic resource underpinning water security, and its effective management requires reliable, high-frequency monitoring data. In mountainous regions such as the flysch Carpathians in southern Poland, natural springs are particularly sensitive indicators of aquifer system dynamics. This study analyzes the role of springs in the national groundwater observation and research network and identifies barriers to the implementation of automated monitoring of spring discharge. The research covered 28 springs operating within the regional monitoring network of the Polish Geological Institute—National Research Institute in the Carpathian region. Classical hydrogeological spring classifications were applied and complemented with proprietary criteria addressing formal-legal, technical, and environmental conditions affecting the feasibility of automation. The results show that all of the analysed springs exhibited a Meinzer’s variability index (V) exceeding 100%, and numerous objects showed a coefficient of variation (CV) above 150%, providing quantitative evidence that standard weekly manual measurements statistically fail to capture rapid flow dynamics and peak discharge events. To bridge the gap between hydrodynamic observations and monitoring logistics, this study introduces a novel methodological contribution: the F-T-S-N screening framework. This proprietary, multi-criteria classification quantifies Formal-legal, Technical, Structural, and Nature-environmental barriers to telemetry implementation. The application of this framework demonstrates that the main obstacles to modernization are non-technological. The proposed classification serves as a practical, transferable tool that supports the rational planning of monitoring network automation in other mountainous regions with similar hydrogeological conditions. Full article
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