Indicators and quality classification applied to groundwater management in coastal aquifers: Mar del Plata (Argentina) and Apulia (Italy) case studies

The use of indicators is considered for environmental and ecological monitoring and in the general assessment of environmental sustainability at a local, national and international scale. They are used to briefly describe the interests and preoccupations of society with regard to environmental evolution, and to coherently aid in decision-making processes. Groundwater is affected by two types of degradation risks: quality and quantity degradation. In order to define the coastal environmental processes related to groundwater resources, some indicators addressed to decision makers and quality classification are proposed and discussed in relation to two different types of coastal aquifers located in different countries: the porous aquifer of Mar del Plata (Argentina) and the Salentine karstic aquifer (Italy). Beyond the strong hydrogeological differences between both areas, the analysis of indicators allows the identification of interesting similarities. The results show this approach could help in reaching a consensus to propose a methodology to deal with environmental quality assessment of water and establish groundwater exploitation criteria.