ABSTRACT
In England and Wales about 35% of public water supplies comes from groundwater abstraction, but this becomes less significant in Scotland with groundwater abstraction representing only 3% of total water supplies because of abundant surface water. Groundwater resources are vulnerable to contamination and protecting aquifers from pollution is becoming increasingly important One solution to this problem is to delineate groundwater protection zones around public supply boreholes and springs and restricting various polluting activities within such zones.
The Environmental Agency (EA) in England and Wales has defined groundwater protection zones based on the 50– day (Zone I) and 400-day (Zone 2) travel times and the whole catchment source (Zone 3) as part of its Groundwater Protection Policy. A similar approach has been advocated in the more recent development of a Groundwater Protection Strategy for Scotland.
A case study from Spey Abstraction Scheme in Scotland is presented to show bow these groundwater protection zones are implemented, with emphasis on their implications in aquifer protection for the Scheme.
