Groundwater protection: support in enforcement

As a result of various political initiatives and decisions by the Federal Council, groundwater and drinking water protection is to be strengthened in the coming years (see article “Improving the implementation of legal requirements”. The cantons and municipalities are facing major challenges in connection with the new tasks. This is why the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) founded the Groundwater Protection Platform in September 2022 in collaboration with the Centre for Hydrogeology and Geothermal Energy at the University of Neuchâtel (CHYN).

Their task is to develop new professional and technical principles and tools. The platform works closely with the cantons, associations and specialised offices. This ensures that the diverse range of practical experience is incorporated into the products and that they meet the needs of the various stakeholders and can be implemented efficiently. Thanks to close cooperation between research institutions in Switzerland and abroad, the latest scientific findings are also integrated.

The most important areas of work are currently the identification and elimination of enforcement deficits and the determination of inflow zones (see article “Improving the implementation of legal requirements”). The platform develops user-friendly tools for the rapid identification and prioritisation of enforcement deficits. Another important aspect is to sensitise various stakeholders to the risks posed to groundwater by different activities and facilities. In close dialogue, new ways of remedying the deficits in enforcement are also to be identified. “According to FOEN estimates, around 75 inflow zones per year will have to be determined in Switzerland over the next few years. This is a major challenge when you consider that only around 70 inflow zones have been determined so far. What’s more, the methodological basis for measuring them was developed over 20 years ago and has only been used sporadically since then,” explains Philip Brunner, Professor and Head of the Laboratory for Hydrogeological Processes at the University of Neuchâtel. The Groundwater Protection Platform offers support here. In close cooperation with practitioners, it is developing a step-by-step procedure that integrates various detailed methods into a process suitable for enforcement. This approach helps to prioritise data procurement and thereby enable resource-efficient work.