Development of a Protection Strategy of Karst Limestone Aquifers: The Merida Yucatan, Mexico Case Study

In many regions karstic aquifers constitute the only available source of drinking water. Due to the high risk of contamination in these aquifers, a comprehensive groundwater protection and control system must be designed and established. It has recentlybeen proposed that Hydrogeologic Reserve Zones (HRZ) can be established as a tool for the groundwater management in these aquifers. The following approach is proposed in order to establish the HRZ in karstic aquifers: including several generalstrategies for the protection of the ground waters within them, as well as the zoning of the land use and the development of acode of practice. A general procedure is proposed for the development of code of practice for ground water protection inkarst aquifers, which is applied as a case study in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2002