@article{10272/25409,
year = {2025},
month = {4},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25409},
abstract = {The Doñana Natural Space (SW Spain) is
considered one of the most important European wetlands,
with many ecosystems depending on groundwater.
As a consequence of intense groundwater
withdrawals for urban use and, above all, irrigation,
serious impacts have been observed in the eastern
part of this aquifer, where the Doñana National Park
is located. There is also groundwater exploitation in
the western part of the aquifer, where a groundwater
divide exists. The main goal of this work is to analyze
the impact of groundwater withdrawals in this area.
For this, the evolution of groundwater levels since
1968 in piezometers and pumping wells has been
compiled and analyzed. This zone is characterized by the existence of a deep aquifer of high transmissivity,
and a shallow aquifer with lower hydraulic conductivity,
which behaves as an aquitard. Results show that
pumping has caused a strong cone of depression in
the deep aquifer, shifting the groundwater divide, and
diverting water originally directed to the protected
area, aggravating the overexploitation problems.
Drawdowns in the shallow aquifer are lower and
seem to be masked by the slow groundwater dynamic.
However, a small lowering of the water table may
cause severe impacts on such fragile ecosystems. The
division of the aquifer for its management into six
groundwater bodies belonging to two hydrographic
districts has caused these important changes to go
unnoticed until now. A proper coordination between
the different water authorities managing groundwater
and urgent adoption of remediation measures is
essential},
organization = {The authors wish to thank the Hydrographic
Confederation of Guadalquivir, the Water Resources
General Authority of the Andalusian Regional Government,
the Doñana Natural Space, and the Spanish Geological Survey
for the piezometric data provided. We appreciate the detailed
review of the original manuscript that has allowed us to significantly
improve it
Funding for open access publishing: Universidad
de Huelva/CBUA. C.R. Cánovas thanks the Spanish Ministry
of Science and Innovation for the Postdoctoral Fellowship
granted under application reference RYC2019–027949-I.
M.D. Basallote thanks the Regional Government of Andalusia
for the 28 EMERGIA grant (EMC21_00363). This research
received partial financial support/funding from the EU project
101071300 Sustainable Horizons (HORIZON).},
publisher = {Springer},
title = {Groundwater divide shifting due to pumping in a sector of the Doñana aquifer system (SW Spain): environmental implications},
doi = {10.1007/s10661-025-13965-z},
author = {Olías Álvarez, Manuel and Basallote Sánchez, María Dolores and Ruiz Cánovas, Carlos and Pérez Carral Lorenzo, María Cristina},
}