Groundwater management principles
Groundwater protection Technical framework of the European policy

The complex nature of groundwater suggests that emerging issues affecting it need to be addressed through integrated management approaches aimed at changing the way people perceive and use the resource . This implies an appreciation of four effective levels of groundwater integration:

• within the hydrological cycle (physical process) ;

• on the scale of river basins and aquifers (spatial integration) ;

• vis-à-vis socio-economic considerations at international, national and regional levels;

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