Mission

To accomplish its mission and main objectives, the Commission cooperates with UNESCO and other internation organisations. The Commission works through Working Groups established for each individual project, usually in the context of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP). Members of the Working Groups are selected according to their expertise in the given study topic and to the UNESCO territorial representation requirements.

Membership

The Commission on Ground-Water Protection of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) was established in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia in 1979. The Commission meets annually to conduct its business, generally during IAH congresses or other meetings. The Commission membership is voluntary and open to all IAH members. Besides regular members, who are members of IAH, the Commission has corresponding members, who are either former Commission members or non-members of IAH who want to participate in its activities.

Currently, the Commission has the following 12 members and 3 corresponding members:

Chairman: Jaroslav Vrba, Czech Republic

Korandova 32
147 00 Praha 4
Czech Republic
E-mail:javr@mymail.cz

Secretary: Alexander Zaporozec, USA

3817 Mineral Point Rd.
Madison, WI 53705
USA
E-mail:azaporoz@facstaff.wisc.edu

Members:
Brian Adams, United Kingdom; Julio Ferreira Carneiro, Portugal; Massimo Civita, Italy; Boyd Dent, Australia; Stefan Kaden, Germany; Snezana Komatina, Serbia and Montenegro; Moumtaz Razack, France; Ińaki Vadillo, Spain; Andrzej Witkowski, Poland; Zhongbo Yu, USA.

Corresponding Members:
Bob Aldwell, Ireland; Jean Khouri, Syrian Arab Republic; Veronica Brieno Rankin, USA.

In Memoriam

In 2007 the Commission endured a great loss-untimely deaths of two devoted, longtime members, Hubert van Waegeningh of the Netherlands and Edmund Gosk of Denmark.

Hubert was one of the charter members of the Commission since 1979. He attended 10 meetings and participated on the Commission in three working groups. And even after his retirement from active membership, he always was willing to provide valuable, helpful advice and suggestions on new projects. Edmund joined the Commisssion in 1991. He attended six meetings and participated in three working groups.

Hubert and Edmund will be sorely missed.

History

The establishment of the IAH Commission on Ground-Water Protection resulted from discussions on ground-water protection problems during two symposia held in 1978: "Groundwater Pollution by Oil Hydrocarbons", Prague, Czechoslovakia, 5-9 June, 1978 and "Drinking-Water Protection Areas", Basel, Switzerland, 8-9 September, 1978.

Resolutions of these symposia called for the establishment of temporary working groups on impacts of agricultural activities on ground-water quality and quantity (proposed officers: J. Vrba, Chairman and E. Romijn, Secretary) and on drinking-water protection zones in humid climates (proposed officers: A. Kleczkowski, Chairman and R. Blau, Secretary). Proposals to form the working groups were submitted to the IAH Executive Committee, who approved the new working groups. In September 1979, the two working groups were incorporated into Commission on Ground-Water Protection, the constitution of which was formally proclaimed by the IAH President at the constituting session of the Commission in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia, in September 1979. J. Vrba was appointed Chairman, and R. Blau Secretary of the Commission.

Since then, more than 40 IAH members participated in various Commission activities, particularly in six working groups. The longest continuing members of the Commission are: J. Vrba and H.G. van Waegeningh (since 1979), R. Aldwell (since 1980), S. Kaden (since 1984), and A. Zaporozec (since 1986). Other long-term members of the Commission include: E. Romijn (1979-2004), J. Hahn (1980-1994), L.J. Andersen (1980-1993), and L. Alföldi (1980-1992).

Meetings

Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia, September 1979 (Constituting session)
Attendance: Blau, Romijn, Vrba (+ 9?)

Vilnius, USSR, July 9, 1979 (Working Group: Drinking-Water Protection Areas, DW)
Attendance: Blau, Castany, Goldberg, Groba, Kleczkowski, van Waegeningh

London, UK, September 9-12, 1980 (Working Group: Impact of Agricultural Activities, AG)
Attendance: Aldwell, Alföldi, Andersen, Hahn, Hunter-Blair, Llamas, Romijn, Stibral, Vrba, Zvirnmann

Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, March 27-28, 1981 (Working Group AG)
Attendance: Aldwell, Andersen, Blau, Castany, Hahn, LeGrand, Llamas, Mallick, Romijn, Stibral, Vrba, Young, Zvirnmann

Kiel, Federal Republic of Germany, May 12, 1981 (Working Group DW)
Attendance: Blau, Groba, Kleczkowski, Laboutka, Matthess, Preller, Rehse, Romijn, van Waegeningh

Praha, Czechoslovakia, September 5-6, 1982 (Joint meeting, Working Groups AG + DW)
Attendance: Aldwell, Alföldi, Andersen, Bálek, Hahn, Hunter-Blair, Llamas, Mallick, Romijn, Stibral, Svoma, van Waegeningh, Vrba, Young

Hannover, Federal Republic of Germany, March 15-17, 1983 (Working Group AG)
Attendance: Aldwell, Anderson, Bálek, Hahn, Romijn, Vrba

Koblenz, Federal Republic of Germany, September 1, 1983 (Working Group DW)
Attendance: Blau, Dasssonville, Groba, Laboutka, Matthess, Preller, van Waegeningh, Vrba

Dublin, Ireland, June 11-15, 1984 (Working Group AG)
Attendance: Aldwell, Alföldi, Andersen, Bálek, Hahn, Kaden, Kondratas, LeGrand, Llamas, Romijn, Safadi, Vrba

Kobenhavn, Denmark, May 12-16, 1986
Attendance: Aldwell, Alföldi, Andersen, Bálek, Kaden, LeGrand, Llamas, Vrba

Budapest, Hungary, May 18-19, 1987 (Working Group: Integrated Land Use Planning, LU)
Attendance: Aldwell, Alföldi, Hahn, Kaden, van Waegeningh, Vrba

Berlin, German Democratic Republic, November 22-23, 1988 (Working Group LU)
Attendance: Aldwell, Alföldi, Bálek, Hahn, Kaden, van Waegeningh, Vrba

Skály, Czechoslovakia, May 23-24, 1989 (Joint meeting Working Groups LU + Ground-Water Vulnerability Mapping, VM) Attendance: Aldwell, Andersen, Guimera, Hahn, Kondratas, Miller, van Waegeningh, Vrána, Vrba, Zaporozec

Bilthoven, The Netherlands, April 24-25, 1990 (Joint meeting, Working Groups LU + VM)
Attendance: Aldwell, Alföldi, Civita, Kaden, Matthess, Miller, Romijn, van Waegeningh, Vrána, Vrba, Zaporozec

Tampa, Florida, USA, April 22-25, 1991 (Working Group VM)
Attendance: Adams, Aldwell, Alföldi, Civita, Gosk, Hahn, Khouri, Miller, van Waegeningh, Vrána, Vrba, Zaporozec

Torino, Italy, September 14-16, 1992 (Working Group VM)
Attendance: Adams, Aldwell, Civita, Gosk, Hahn, Khouri, Miller, van Waegeningh, Vrba, Zaporozec

Oslo, Norway, July 1, 1993 (Informal meeting)
Attendance: Aldwell, Hahn, Vrba, Zaporozec

Wallingford, UK, May 9-11, 1994 (Working Group VM)
Attendance: Adams, Aldwell, Gosk, Hahn, Khouri, van Waegeningh, Vrba, Zaporozec

Edmonton, Canada, June 4, 1995 (Informal meeting)
Attendance: Adams, Aldwell, Zaporozec

Nottingham, UK, September 22, 1997
Attendance: Adams, Aldwell, Romijn, Vrba, Zaporozec, Komatina, Witkowski

Las Vegas, USA, September 29, 1998
Attendance: Adams, Aldwell, Kaden, Komatina, Vrba, Zaporozec, Yu, Al-Rashidy

Bratislava, Slovakia, September 6, 1999
Attendance: Aldwell, Gosk, Komatina, Romijn, Vrba, Witkowski, Zaporozec

Cape Town, South Africa, November 27, 2000
Attendance: Gosk, Vrba, Witkowski, Zaporozec; Razack, Wright

Mar del Plata, Argentina, October 23, 2002 (Informal meeting)
Attendance: Vrba, Witkowski

Ustroń, Poland, June 14, 2004
Attendance: Adams, Gosk, Vrba, Witkowski

Completed Studies

Commission projects generally are carried out as part of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme. Outputs of the Commission working groups are published in the "International Contributions to Hydrogeology" or in a UNESCO publication series. The following documents were published:

Impact of agricultural activities on ground water (J. Vrba and E. Romijn, editors), International Contributions to Hydrogeology, Vol. 5, 1986 (Contribution to IHP-II, Project A.3.7).

Contents:

1. The atmosphere-soil-plant system and the water cycle
2. Movement of agrochemicals in the unsaturated and saturated zones
3. Impact of fertilizers and pesticides on ground water quality
4. Influence of irrigation and drainage
5. Mathematical models
6. Ground water quality monitoring under different agricultural conditions
7. Control and management of agricultural impact on ground water
8. Case histories

Project Working Group, "Impact of Agricultural Activities on Ground Water", 1979-1984:

Chairman: J. Vrba, Czechoslovakia S. Kaden, German Democratic Republic
Secretary: E. Romijn, The Netherlands A. Kondratas, USSR
Members: R. Aldwell, Ireland H.E. LeGrand, USA
L. Alföldi, Hungary R. Llamas, Spain
L.J. Andersen, Denmark S. Mallick, India
J. Bálek, Czechoslovakia J. Stibral, Czechoslovakia
A. Hunter-Blair, United Kingdom C.P. Young, United Kingdom
J. Hahn, Federal Republic of Germany K.H. Zvirnmann, Austria

Theoretical background, hydrogeology and practice of groundwater protection zones (G. Matthess, S.D. Foster, and A.C. Skinner, editors), International Contributions to Hydrogeology, Vol. 6, 1985 (Contribution to IHP-II, Project A.3.6).

Contents:

1. Behaviour of contaminants in groundwater
2. Notions d'hydraulique et mécanismes hydrodynamiques de propagation en milieu poreux sature
3. Protection of the groundwater quality in porous permeable rocks
4. Groundwater protection in fissured rocks
5. Problemes de protection de la qualité des eaux souterraines en terrains calcaires
6. Overview of protection of groundwater quality
7. Groundwater pollution protection in developing countries

Project Working Group, "Drinking-water protection areas in humid climates", 1979-1983:

Chairman: A.S. Kleczkowski, Poland C. Preller, Federal Republic of Germany
Secretary: R.V. Blau, Switzerland W. Rehse, Switzerland
Members: E. Groba, Federal Republic of Germany A.C. Skinner, United Kingdom
M. Laboutka, Czechoslovakia J. Tóth, Canada
G. Matthess, Federal Republic of Germany H.G. van Waegeningh, The Netherlands
H. Paloc, France L. Zilliox, France

Hydrogeology and management of hazardous waste by deep-well disposal (P.E. LaMoreaux and J. Vrba, editors), International Contributions to Hydrogeology, Vol. 12, 1990 (Contribution to IHP-III, Project 8.2). [In cooperation with the IAH Commission on Hydrogeology of Hazardous Waste.]

Contents:

1. Underground injection project
2. Hazardous wastes
3. Geologic and hydrologic criteria for design of a deep disposal system
4. Drilling, testing, and completion of a hazardous waste injection well
5. Physical and biochemical compatibility of waste to host formation
6. Monitoring requirements
7. Environmental impacts associated with deep-well disposal
App. A. Case histories

Integrated land-use planning and groundwater protection in rural areas (J. Vrba and R. Aldwell, editors), UNESCO Technical Documents in Hydrology, 1991 (Contribution to IHP-III, Project 10.6).

Contents:

1. Executive summary and conclusions
2. Balancing land-use needs and groundwater protection
3. Consequences of land-use for groundwater resources
4. Data requirements and database management
5. Land-use planning and groundwater protection management
6. Groundwater protection
7. Legislation and regulation
8. Methods of groundwater protection implementation
9. Public information and education
10. Case histories

Project Working Group, "Integrated land-use planning and groundwater protection in rural areas", 1986-1990:

Chairman: J. Vrba, Czechoslovakia J. Hahn, Federal Republic of Germany
Members: R. Aldwell, Ireland S. Kaden, German Democratic Republic
L. Alföldi, Hungary J.C. Miller, USA
L.J. Andersen, Denmark H.G. van Waegeningh, The Netherlands

Guidebook on mapping groundwater vulnerability (J. Vrba and A. Zaporozec, editors), International Contributions to Hydrogeology, Vol. 16, 1994 (Contribution to IHP-IV, Project M-1.2(a)).

Contents:

List of acronyms and abbreviations

Executive summary 1. Introduction
2. Concept of groundwater vulnerability
3. Chemical and biological contaminants and their subsurface behavior
4. Classification and review of groundwater vulnerability maps
5. Assessment of groundwater vulnerability
6. Groundwater vulnerability in areas of climatic extremes
7. Data needs and presentation
8. Uses and limitations of groundwater vulnerability maps
9. Future trends in groundwater vulnerability mapping
App. A. Model legend for groundwater vulnerability maps (in color)
B. Examples of groundwater vulnerability assessment and maps
D. References

Project Working Group, "Preparation and Use of Ground-Water Vulnerability Maps", 1989-1994:

Chairman: J. Vrba, Czechoslovakia J. Hahn, Federal Republic of Germany
Secretary: A. Zaporozec, USA J. Khouri, Syria
Members: B. Adams, United Kingdom G. Matthess, Federal Republic of Germany
R. Aldwell, Ireland J.C. Miller, USA
M. Civita, Italy M. Vrána, Czechoslovakia
E. Gosk, Denmark H.G. van Waegeningh, The Netherlands

Ground-water pollution (A. Zaporozec and J.C. Miller), UNESCO, Paris, France, 2000.
[Educational brochure prepared within the framework of the IHP-V, Project 3.1].

Contents:

- Ground water in its natural environment
- Ground-water pollution
- Sources of ground-water pollution
- Ground-water protection

Groundwater contamination inventory (A. Zaporozec, editor), UNESCO IHP-VI, Series on Groundwater No. 2, 2004; CD-ROM published by UNESCO in May 2002 (Contribution to IHP-V, Project 3.1).

Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Groundwater quality and contamination
3. Sources of groundwater contamination
4. Contamination source inventory
5. Rating of groundwater contamination sources
6. Map production
7. Using results of the inventory to protect groundwater
8. Case studies
App.
A. Glossary
B. Bibliography
C. Model legend

Project Working Group, "Groundwater contamination inventory", 1998-2001:

Chairman: A. Zaporozec, USA P-O. Johansson, Sweden
Members: J.C. Nonner, The Netherlands
J.E. Conrad, South Africa E. Romijn, The Netherlands
R. Hirata, Brasil J.M.C. Weaver, South Africa
Contribution to the World Water Forum, Japan, 2003.

Ground for emergency situations (J. Vrba and B. Verhagen, editors), UNESCO IHP-VI, Series on Groundwater No. 12, 2006.

Groundwater Resources sustainability indicators (J. Vrba and A. Lipponen, editors), UNESCO IHP-VI, Series on Groundwater, No. 14, 2007 (Contribution to World Water Assessment Programme).

Groundwater vulnerability assessment and mapping (A. Witkowski, A. Kowalczyk, and J. Vrba, editors), Proceedings of the Conference in Ustron Poland, 15-18 June, 2004, IAH Selected Papers in Hydrogeology, No. 11, 2007.

Current Projects

Monitoring strategies for detecting groundwater quality problems (J. Vrba and B. Adams, editors), Contribution to IHP-V, Project 3.2, UNESCO (in print).

Project Working Group, "Early warning groundwater monitoring stratigy", 1997-2002:
Chairman: J. Vrba, Czechoslovakia
Members: E. Gosk, Denmark
B. Adams, United Kingdom D. Ronen, Israel

Guidelines of delineation of protection zones around publi\ c groundwater supplies (J. Vrba, coordinator), Contribution to IHP-VI (Methodol\ ogical Guide expected in 2008).

Project Working Group:
Chairman: J. Vrba, Czechoslovakia A. Tahy, Hungary
Members: B. Thomsen, Denmark
B. Adams, United Kingdom T. Vitvar, USA
R. Hirata, Brasil A. Witkowski, Poland

Future Activities

Next Commission meeting will be held during the XXXVI Congress of IAH in Toyoma, Japan, Oct. 27, 2008. The exact place, date, and time of the meeting will be annouced later. at the call by the Chairman.