Implementation of the Sustainable Development Concept in the Field of Groundwater Management

Sustainable development is defined by the Brundtland Commission as a "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Unfortunately, in the public discussion sustainability is often equated with ecology and an intact environment, which doesn't meet this definition. Examinations of sustainability have shown that it has to be put in a context of three partly competing goals: ecology, economy and social affairs. These goals can be described by the so-called sustainability triangle, in which those solutions that reach a balance among all three goals are sustainable. The approach of sustainable development is being applied more and more often in groundwater management. Development and use of the decision system are presented for two large and intensively used groundwater systems with regards to the water supply. These are a multi-layered aquifer of unconsolidated rock and an aquifer of consolidated rock.