Authors: Miguel RodríguezRodríguez José Benavente
Publish Date: 2007/06/29
Volume: 22, Issue: 7, Pages: 797-821
Abstract
The European Water Framework Directive WFD constitutes a new view of water resources management and provides a challenge in the development of new and accurate methodologies for the classification of water bodies It is necessary to improve and develop approaches based upon scientific knowledge in order to achieve requirements of comparability throughout European waters This contribution focuses on the development of a classification typology for a series of wetlands in southern Spain based on hydromorphological elements Spanish wetlands and playalakes are usually small 50 ha and temporary and for that reason only indirectly addressed in the WFD with respect to the status of ground water dependent ecosystems The WFD does not provide any guidance on how to react to significant pressures and impacts on such ecosystems In order to manage protect and if necessary restore this type of water bodies it is important to classify them according to the main factors involved in their hydrological functioning The water balance of the playalakes has proved to be a valuable tool to determine the hydrological regime in a semiarid climate Surfacegroundwater relationships are key elements in determining the water balance but there are other elements that could indicate or corroborate the hydrological functioning of a playalake such as hydrochemical markers or morphometric indexes The present work could constitute the basis for a discussion document for other regions and countries throughout Europe and elsewhere
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