Abstract
The Blato aquifer is situated on the western side of the island of Korčula, southern Dalmatia, Croatia. The terrain is built of karstified carbonate rocks, mostly of the Cretaceous age. In the Blatsko karst polje there are four water supply wells with a total yield of about 60 l/s. The catchment area is 28 km2. The whole terrain is tectonically disturbed and compressed; the most permeable fracture system is perpendicular to the structural “b” axes, which gives rise to a general groundwater direction towards the island’s northern coast. Average precipitation is 850 mm/year, but when there is less than 700 mm/year there is a high possibility of sea-water intrusion during the summer season. The risk significantly increases when dry years repeat. Hydrochemical research has shown that two main pollution sources occur at different hydrological moments: sea-water intrusion happens in the dry summer period when there is maximal extraction and almost no recharge; and the washing of nitrates and other humanly caused pollution indicators from the soil and epikarst belt during the rainy season. All factors must be taken into account when planning management and protection of such a sensitive environment.
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Aknowledgments
The authors wish to express their gratitude to Croatian Waters, the subsidizers of the research. Some data from these reports were also used in this paper. We also wish to acknowledge the help of colleagues from the Blato water supply company and all the other colleagues who have helped us in any way, or who worked in the previous phases of the research and made some unpublished technical reports. Therefore, thanks to (alphabetically) Andrea Bačani, Željka Brkić, Ruška Gavranić, Sanja Kapelj, Rade Kaštropil, Nikola Mirošević, Dario Perković, Davor Romić, Davorin Singer, Ante Šarin, Franjo Šumanovac, Bruno Tomljenović, Mladen Trutin and Srećko Udiljak. The research was partially carried out in the framework of the research project of the Croatian Ministry of Education, Science and Sports: “Basic hydrogeological map of Croatia”.
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Terzić, J., Marković, T. & Pekaš, Ž. Influence of sea-water intrusion and agricultural production on the Blato Aquifer, Island of Korčula, Croatia. Environ Geol 54, 719–729 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0841-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0841-4