Groundwater and Urban Planning Perspective

Abstract

An analysis of 17 Romanian cities’ Urban General Plans showed that urban planning documents do not satisfactorily rely on groundwater information. The associated hydrogeological supporting studies include only general recommendations. However, they should include specifications to improve water-balance and detail the need to implement monitoring systems to monitor groundwater levels. The studies do not recommend special construction measures to be implemented for future infrastructure elements and do not include maps delimiting the particular geotechnical and hydrogeological characteristics. A study conducted on an urban river corridor using satellite remote sensing and a methodology characterizing the chosen zone clearly shows a major concordance between the groundwater level and vertical displacements. In addition, the presence of urban anthropogenic strata associated with the groundwater level fluctuations showed amplified vertical displacements of the ground when compared to the areas where the natural deposits exist. The methodology combines subsidence occurrence, land-cover changes, hydrogeological, geological, and hydrological characteristics, climatic aspects, the location, the extension of old quarries, and the last 100 years of topographical changes. These observations emphasize the need for accurate studies to properly discriminate between phenomena and processes generating subsidence, which must be used systematically to support the general urban plans of cities as the documentation of future developments.