Beneath the scrubland, or a story of water for the people of Montpellier

The conference will focus on karst and groundwater resources around Montpellier, but can be generalized to many Mediterranean regions.

Water is a precious common good, and we often hear that the coming century will be one of searching for water and preserving it. Not all regions of the world are equal in terms of its abundance and quality. The Montpellier region is very fortunate because beneath its limestone scrubland lies a natural reservoir located in the karst of Upper Jurassic limestone, which was deposited on the edge of the Alpine Ocean around 135 million years ago. The roof of these limestones, which supports our Mediterranean scrubland, collects a large amount of rainwater that infiltrates the porosity of the karst and can remain there, forming an underground aquifer where water is stored and can be exploited in large quantities either from natural springs or by drilling. The water is regularly replenished depending on rainfall levels. The most important challenge for the future of our needs will be to preserve the quality of this water by preventing human and industrial pollution. The message for the future is therefore to preserve the integrity of our scrublands, which collect the rainwater we drink.

Michel Bakalowicz holds a Doctorate in Natural Sciences from Paris-6 University, following postgraduate studies on karst hydrogeology in the Taurus Mountains, Turkey. He worked at CEMAGREF in the Hydrology Division. He then completed his thesis at the CNRS Underground Laboratory on the contributions of geochemistry to the understanding of karst. He was subsequently seconded to MacMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, to study underground paleoenvironments using isotopes and U/Th radiochronology. He was seconded to BRGM as a scientific advisor during the creation of the Heterogeneous Environments Hydrogeology Unit in Montpellier to develop research in karst hydrogeology (1995-2004). Finally, as part of cooperation with Lebanon, he was seconded to the IRD to head the Regional Center for Water and the Environment. From 1995 to 2008, he was attached tothe HydroSciences Montpellier laboratory. He also served as an expert for the IAEA, leading and evaluating projects on karst water resources in Haiti, Morocco, Algeria, Syria, and Lebanon, and led scientific cooperation projects in China.