Groundwater resources in a Mediterranean mountainous region: environmental impact of road de-icing

Water from mountainous regions is a strategic natural resource. In Mediterranean mountainous regions, which, in many cases, correspond to protected areas, high-altitude roads are often the main threat to the sustainability of water resources. In these regions, the regular socioeconomic functioning r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainable water resources management 2019-03, Vol.5 (1), p.305-317
Main Authors: Espinha Marques, J., Marques, J. M., Carvalho, A., Carreira, P. M., Moura, R., Mansilha, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altitude
Calcium chloride
Deicing
Development Economics
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environmental assessment
Environmental impact
Geochemistry
Geology
Groundwater
High altitude
Hydrogeochemistry
Hydrogeology
Hydrology/Water Resources
Icing
Mountain regions
Mountainous areas
Mountains
Natural resources
Organic chemistry
Original Article
Protected areas
Regions
Roads
Roads & highways
Socioeconomic factors
Sodium chloride
Surveying
Sustainability
Sustainable Development
Water Policy/Water Governance/Water Management
Water pollution
Water resources
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Summary:Water from mountainous regions is a strategic natural resource. In Mediterranean mountainous regions, which, in many cases, correspond to protected areas, high-altitude roads are often the main threat to the sustainability of water resources. In these regions, the regular socioeconomic functioning requires frequent road de-icing operations which normally consist of spreading NaCl and other chemicals, such as CaCl 2 , in pavements. The main purpose of this research is to assess the environmental impact of road de-icing on groundwater resources in a Mediterranean mountainous region and to describe it by means of a hydrogeological conceptual model. The research focused in a cross-sectional sector located in Serra da Estrela (Central Portugal), where a hydrogeological inventory was carried out, followed by hydrogeochemical and hydrogeophysical studies. The results clearly identify different hydrogeochemical signatures in polluted (Cl–Na facies and higher EC) and unpolluted (HCO 3 –Na, Cl–Na, and very low EC). The relation of hydrogeochemistry and altitude is complex and depends on both natural processes (namely, water–rock interaction) and anthropic processes (de-icing operations). The hydrogeophysical survey systematically identified the presence of a pollution plume migrating downstream from roads.
ISSN:2363-5037
2363-5045
DOI:10.1007/s40899-017-0170-z