Hydrological summary for the United Kingdom: September 2017

British Geological Survey

关键词: GroundwaterBGS;    Groundwater;    Groundwater and methane;    Groundwater protection;    Major aquifers;   

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来源: NERC Open Research Archive

【 摘 要 】

This report is the product of a joint British Geological Survey (BGS) 鈥?Environment Agency (EA)study to assess the vulnerability of groundwater in relation to deep sub-surface hydrocarbonactivity (3D Groundwater Vulnerability) in England.Since the late 1980s, groundwater protection in England has benefited from a series of nationalgroundwater vulnerability maps. These are now routinely used to inform decisions aroundallowing and/or managing activities on, or just below, the land surface that are potentiallypolluting. The recent increased interest in onshore exploration and exploitation of the deepersubsurface and concerns about the risk to groundwater has highlighted the fact that the existinggroundwater vulnerability assessment methodology focuses solely on risks from hazards that areabove the groundwater that requires protection.Plans to exploit the deep sub-surface, in particular for shale gas using hydraulic fracturing, haveattracted considerable public interest and concerns over the potential for these activities to causepollution of groundwater. It is therefore essential that in considering any proposals for use of thedeep sub-surface, tools and methods for assessing groundwater vulnerability and risk are fit forpurpose.Hence, the aim of this project was to develop a new vulnerability method that could address thepotential risks to groundwater from activities below, or at similar depths to, groundwater systems(aquifers) that are currently used or have the potential to be used in the future. These systems arethose requiring protection under current EU and UK legislation. To this end we present amethodology along with five different hydrocarbon activity case study examples from acrossEngland. The report describes how information can be compiled, interpreted and presented in orderto assess the vulnerability of groundwater and an indication of the risks associated with ahydrocarbon development activity at a site. The outputs are designed for use primarily by thoseneeding to understand better the hydrogeological context of subsurface developments, thevulnerability of groundwater and the potential risks. It is also hoped that the hydrogeological dataand methodology will aid decision making and provide impartial information to inform publicdebate.The report is not designed to set out in a formal way how information and modelling should beused to reach regulatory decisions. A wider set of site-specific information will be required for thisand this is outside the scope of the research presented here.