The role of groundwater in highly human-modified hydrosystems: a review of impacts and mitigationoptions in the Campo de Cartagena-Mar Menor coastal plain (SE Spain)

Abstract

Hydrological processes and water resources are increasingly modified by anthropogenic actions, leading to multiple pressures on the environment and related ecosystems. A better understanding of the interactions between the anthroposphere and the hydrosphere is necessary to shape more sustainable societies. The pressure of human activities on the environment is specially high along the circum-Mediterranean area due to a combination of biophysical and economic factors.The Campo the Cartagena coastal plain together with the Mar Menor lagoon is one of the most exemplary areas in this aspect. This work analyzes this system at the basin level by providing a synthesis of the state of knowledge of each hydrological compartment and the links between them