Assessment of the sensitivity of water resources in the intertropical zone: a bibliographical study with perspectives

Abstract

Study of the vulnerability of water resources contributing to consumer health in the inter-tropical zone. The aim of this paper is to present the state of the art on the protection of water resources in the inter-tropical zone in order to identify gaps in knowledge that improve drinking water supply. To achieve this, a documentary search online was carried out to assess the progression of work over time. What emerges from this literature review is that the method for assessing intrinsic and specific vulnerability in bedrock areas is practically non-existent. A discrepancy exists and reflects the difference in a coincidence of the level of vulnerability when several methods of determining vulnerability are used in the same study site. The issue of validation is still problematic, as it lies in the fact that a property that is not precisely defined cannot be unambiguously deduced from the measured quantity. The characterisation of specific pollutants and their propagation in the saturated or groundwater zone are not taken into account. All the different components of the water cycle are not always taken into account during a groundwater vulnerability study, yet each water resource is part of a closely related component of the water cycle. HIGHLIGHTS The aim of this paper is to present the state of the art on the protection of groundwater that improve drinking water supply.; Several indices have been identified in the literature.; However, these indices reveal that groundwater vulnerability assessment procedures are not well understood, are poorly used, and remain a challenge for underdeveloped countries.; There is an urgent need to apply effective corrections to the methods of protecting water resources in the intertropical zone for drinking water supply.;

Keywords

• bedrock zone
• groundwater
• hydrogeology
• inter-tropical zone
• sensitivity
• tracer