Groundwater Contour Maps for the Alluvial Aquifers of the Upper Danube Basin

Groundwater is the most important source of drinking water in the Upper Danube drainage basin. More than 90 % of drinking water is extracted from wells in shallow quaternary aquifers. The study of the effects of global change on groundwater storage in these aquifers is thus an important step in the attempt to simulate the impact of global change on water resources and water supply. This chapter describes the development of a continuous groundwater table contour map of the uppermost quaternary aquifer in the Upper Danube catchment. These maps show the elevation of the groundwater level above sea level and provide important information needed to assess groundwater movement and boundary conditions. Here we describe the process of collecting base data in various forms from a large variety of sources and the approaches chosen to homogenize and interpolate the data to create the maps presented. The manner in which the resulting datasets are used to conceptualize the groundwater flow model used in DANUBIA is presented.