Springs are a natural interface between groundwater (GW) and surface water, supporting ecosystems (ES) and they are sentinels of environmental stress. Yet, despite their importance, they are still overlooked in European water policies. The SentinelSpringS project aims to fill this gap by developing a robust framework to assess the health of springs and their role in sustaining biodiversity.
The project brings together six European countries to tackle local challenges and develop a unified monitoring approach. Portugal focuses on methods to identify GW-dependent ES and evaluating the impacts of contamination and land use. Denmark leads the implementation of real-time water data into the European Geological Data Infrastructure, upgrading GW monitoring digital tools. Italy studies the status of lowland springs with hydrogeological and ecological monitoring. France applies hydrogeochemical and hydrological modelling to forecast the behaviour of karst springs in relation to climate change (CC) and human impact. Poland focuses on ecological evaluations, integrating biodiversity data with remote sensing to analyse and model processes at local and landscape scales. Malta pursues citizen science activities, while monitoring GW flow from perched aquifers and investigating possible conservation approaches for small island ES.
Through the integration of data from all partners, this project will institute standardised monitoring protocols. Moreover, this project will assess the impact of CC and human activities on springs in different European landscapes. The project also fosters citizen science involvement and stakeholder partecipation, making sure that local communities both contribute to and benefit from it.
Acknowledgement: SentinelSpringS is a funded research project by the Water4All Partnership-Water Security for the Planet (Water4All/0010/2023) which is co-funded by the European Union within the frame of the Horizon Europe programme.