Activities
This page features a selection of RGFC’s previous international activities, together with links to additional information, resources and reports. We hope the information encourages you to participate.
An essay dedicated to the International Year of Groundwater
At the invitation of the IAH Executive, the board members of the RGFC-IAH published an essay about regional groundwater flow in Hydrogeology Journal. The article is part of the “International Year of Groundwater” topical collection. We want to thank the significant efforts of the authors with the essay, and we hope we can continue the discussion of the subject in the IAH.
In this essay, the authors outlined the significance of groundwater flow systems in the context of current and future hydrogeological challenges. They reviewed the extension of the concept for interpreting complex aquifer systems and different hydrogeological environments. In addition, the article revealed terminology issues and introduced the complex aquifer connectivity as a framework.
You can read the essay here (open access): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10040-022-02577-3
Judit Mádl-Szőnyi, Okke Batelaan, John Molson, Hanneke Verweij, Xiao-Wei Jiang, José Joel Carrillo-Rivera & Ádám Tóth: Regional groundwater flow and the future of hydrogeology: evolving concepts and communication. Hydrogeology Journal 31, pages 23–26
Access all the Essays produced for the Topical Collection “Year of Groundwater”, which is entirely available as open access, here.
Relation of different frameworks to groundwater flow interpretation: a) groundwater basins; b) sedimentary basin;
c) terrestrial crustal aquifer system (modified after Yardley and Bodnar (2014)
49th IAH Congress, 19-22 September 2022
The Regional Groundwater Systems and Transboundary Aquifers session was co-organised by the Regional Groundwater Flow Commission and Transboundary Aquifers Commission and chaired by Xiao-Wei Jiang, Ádám Tóth, Momčilo Blagojević and Arnaud Sterckx. The call attracted many abstracts, and therefore, two oral sessions were run during the annual Congress of IAH.
The contributions focused on new and inspiring practices related to groundwater at a larger (basin to supra-basin) level, calculation of regional groundwater flow, and advances in GIS methods are some of the sub-topics considered along with raising awareness and better understanding. Transboundary aquifers were also presented from all around the world including cross-border political, socioeconomic and environmental differences. The integration of two sub-topics (regional groundwater flow systems and transboundary aquifers) considered the experiences, new insights, and future projects in the management, monitoring and zoning of transboundary aquifers by means of groundwater flow systems, as an inspiration to those dealing with transboundary groundwater.
EGU 2022– Vienna, Austria & Online
This year the annual EGU General Assembly was held in a hybrid form in Vienna. The events of the EGU 2022 conference were scheduled between 23-27 May 2022. The EGU General Assembly 2022, the first-ever fully hybrid EGU meeting, was a great success with 12,332 presentations in 791 sessions. 7,315 colleagues from 89 countries participated on-site in Vienna, accompanied by 7,002 virtual attendees from 116 countries.
At this online event, RGFC-IAH organised a session named “The role of groundwater flow systems in solving water management and environmental problems” and convened by Jim LaMoreaux, John Molson, Daniela Ducci, Manuela Lasagna and Judit Mádl-Szőnyi. The session aimed to bring together scientists studying various aspects of groundwater flow systems. This could provide the basis for understanding local, regional, and basin-scale flow governing processes and conditions, including porous and fractured porous media. It could help to handle problems connected to groundwater management and underline the importance of sustainable development and protection of groundwater resources. Twenty-four abstracts were presented in the oral session held in the form of 5-minute-long short presentations followed by Q&A.
The EGU General Assembly 2022 in the hybrid format was an exciting experience for all the attendees. The event gave an excellent chance to meet on-site or online and share research and ideas among other researchers. We were happy to try the new form, thereby fostering the acquisition of new experiences in regional groundwater flow research. We could build new liaisons with scientists from all over the world.
The session was again a great success.
