ABSTRACT
Managing the groundwater resources of an area properly is not possible without sufficient and reliable area-specific information. In the first place, those in charge of managing the resources should have a correct and sufficiently accurate picture of the local groundwater resources, their current functions and use, their socio-economic relevance and their interactions with surface water, ecosystems and the environ ment. Secondly, they should be adequately informed about current groundwater-related problems and have sufficient information at their disposal to identify potential future problems, to assess the scope (if any) for expanding the use of the groundwater resources and to predict the likely effects of specific groundwater resources management interventions.
