CatchmentCARE 4+

This XR application demonstrates groundwater processes through a number of pre-defined scenarios allowing access to information from a clear and intuitive ‘modular menu’.

The app demonstrates groundwater processes through a number of pre-defined Scenarios, including:

The groundwater systems and how groundwater flows under and through the three catchments. Groundwater flow pathways include:

- shallow interflow in subsoils and at the top of the bedrock;
  - shallow and deeper fractures;
  - karst conduits, caverns and caves;
  - pore water in porous and permeable sandstones or sands and gravels.

How groundwater levels and spring flows change seasonally in response to rainfall, for normal conditions, droughts and high rainfall conditions.
The interaction between groundwater and surface water:

- how rainwater reaches the water table to become groundwater;
- how groundwater flows into the base of rivers and supports river flows; 
- how surface water can sink into swallow holes and then emerge at springs or in rivers; 
- how thick, superficial deposits can limit how much rainfall reaches the groundwater system and can isolate groundwater from surface waters.

How groundwater can be abstracted from boreholes or springs for drinking water, agricultural use or industrial use, and;
- what impact groundwater abstraction may have on linked surface waters and ecosystems;
- what impact droughts can have on groundwater abstractions (boreholes drying; springs drying up).

The ways in which contaminants can enter the subsurface, and the underground pathways that contaminants can take. These include:
- diffusely, by percolating through soils and subsoils;
- at point locations, via swallow holes.

The sources of pollution that might occur in the catchments, and the impact on groundwater, boreholes, springs and linked surface waters:
- nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates, arising from livestock grazing, land-spreading, septic tanks, leaking sewers;
  - bacterial contamination from livestock, land-spreading, septic tanks, leaking sewers;
- contamination from agricultural or domestic application of pesticides or herbicides; other potentially-polluting rural or urban activities

The aim of CatchmentCARE is to establish 3 water quality improvement projects in the Finn, Blackwater and Arney Catchments and install 50 boreholes across the region. This has been achieved through policy actions, catchment actions and community actions which were selected based on three critical criteria; measurable impact on water quality; transferable beyond the three catchments; and contribute to a project legacy. The actions selected will address water quality issues related to hydromorphology, point and diffuse sources of pollution, farm nutrient management practices, characterisation and monitoring of groundwater quality, lag times in response to the implementation of measures and an economic analysis of the cost of achieving the objectives of the Water Framework Directive in the three catchments. British Geological Survey (BGS), Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI) and Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) will be responsible for the installation and monitoring of groundwater monitoring points in the three catchments.

Funded by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme in the amount of €13.8million, which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body, the CatchmentCARE project aimed to improve freshwater quality in the Finn, Blackwater and Arney river catchments through the development of water quality improvement projects. The project also included the installation of fifty boreholes across the region to monitor water quality. The Project also provided a platform for cross border engagement and knowledge sharing between community, governance, policy and scientific shareholders. 

UKRI / Water Framework Directive / CatchmentCARE / British Geological Survey (BGS) / Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI) / Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI).

To use AR parts of this app, please download the following marker:
https://studioliddell.com/catchmentCARE/main-marker.pdf