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Water resources vulnerability assessment in the Adriatic Sea region: the case of Corfu Island

  • Efficient & Sustainable Water Systems Management toward Worth Living Development
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Abstract

Cross-border water resources management and protection is a complicated task to achieve, lacking a common methodological framework. Especially in the Adriatic region, water used for drinking water supply purposes pass from many different countries, turning its management into a hard task to achieve. During the DRINKADRIA project, a common methodological framework has been developed, for efficient and effective cross-border water supply and resources management, taking into consideration different resources types (surface and groundwater) emphasizing in drinking water supply intake. The common methodology for water resources management is based on four pillars: climate characteristics and climate change, water resources availability, quality, and security. The present paper assesses both present and future vulnerability of water resources in the Adriatic region, with special focus on Corfu Island, Greece. The results showed that climate change is expected to impact negatively on water resources availability while at the same time, water demand is expected to increase. Water quality problems will be intensified especially due to land use changes and salt water intrusion. The analysis identified areas where water resources are more vulnerable, allowing decision makers develop management strategies.

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Acknowledgements

This work is elaborated through a project co-funded by the European Union, IPA Adriatic CBC Programme 2007-2013 (DRINKADRIA project, 1o str./0004, further info: www.drinkadria.eu).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, 383 34, Volos, Greece

    Vasilis Kanakoudis, Stavroula Tsitsifli & Anastasia Papadopoulou

  2. Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva c. 12, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Barbara Cencur Curk

  3. Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 3, 51000, Rijeka, Croatia

    Barbara Karleusa

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  1. Vasilis Kanakoudis
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  2. Stavroula Tsitsifli
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  3. Anastasia Papadopoulou
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  4. Barbara Cencur Curk
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  5. Barbara Karleusa
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Correspondence to Stavroula Tsitsifli.

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Responsible editor: Kenneth Mei Yee Leung

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Kanakoudis, V., Tsitsifli, S., Papadopoulou, A. et al. Water resources vulnerability assessment in the Adriatic Sea region: the case of Corfu Island. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 20173–20186 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9732-8

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