Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment Methods: The Non-Independence of Parameters Problem

This paper investigates the relationship between the two parameters, aquifer media and hydraulic conductiv-ity, and assesses their reliability for aquifer vulnerability assessment. To evaluate the possible non-independence of the parameters in question, sensitivity analysis procedure was used in a GIS environment. The procedure was tested in three areas where aquifer vulnerability was assessed, corresponding to three different hydro-geological settings. The applications demonstrate that non-independence is confirmed and is more evident in alluvial and volcano-pyroclastic aquifers.