GEOLOGICAL AND HYDROGEOLOGICAL MODELS IN THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

The Environment Agency is the environmental regulator for England and Wales. Each year, in the UK, nearly 24 million mega-litres of groundwater is abstracted 85 percent coming from the Chalk (60%) and Triassic Sandstone (25%) aquifers - this is almost equal to the total reservoir storage in the UK. Economically, this water has an asset value of £2bn and, with a high population density and the river systems under stress, efficient groundwater use is a high priority. Managing this resource is one of our key roles. Assessment of the impact of abstraction on available resources and groundwater dependant surface waters and ecosystems is key to developing sustainable management strategies. In order to accomplish this, we have been increasingly making use of digital geological and hydrogeological modelling technology and this work is focussed on our own National Groundwater Modelling System and the British Geological Surveys Lithoframe Viewer 3d Geological model software. This poster discusses the techniques we have used and how we are developing them.