YIELD ASSESSMENT FOR BLATO WELL FIELD, ISLAND OF KORČULA

• Main Authors: Andrea Bačani, Tatjana Vlahović, Dario Perković
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering 2006-12-01
• Series: Rudarsko-geološko-naftni Zbornik
• Subjects: Korčula water supply; yield; groundwater management
• Online Access: http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=10988&lang=en

Water supply of the western part of the Island of Korčula relies on groundwater abstracted from the top layer of a Carbonate aquifer located in the Blatsko Polje field at four wells with total yield of 65 l/s. In years when the rainfall is above average, the pumped water salinity increases. Hydrogeological investigations were carried out in order to assess the available groundwater quantity and its optimum harnessing. The investigations included analysis of data on daily measurements of the groundwater tables, chloride content, rainfall and pumping rates, determination of hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifer, catchment area, and development of water balance. It was determined that karstification of deposits in the field (polje) is rather low, namely that water storage capacities are limited. The groundwater reserves are limited and directly related to rainfall rates. With catchment area of 22 km2 , rainfall rate of 700 mm a year is a critical amount, which covers the present water demand during the summer season provided over 70 % of rainfall has fallen during the colder period of year, when evaporation is less intensive. The current well-field yield exhaust the complete groundwater reserves and there is no possibility of tapping any additional amounts. The pumping regime during the summer season should be balanced by round-a-clock operation of all pumps at lower rates, while additional water quantities should be supplied from other sources (the paper is published in Croatian).