Information on the availability and

Information on the availability and quality of groundwater are essential when addressing groundwater related questions/issues like the evaluation of groundwater resources and their management, aspects of groundwater protection or use of geothermal energy. Thus BGR works on collecting, compiling, processing and analysing spatial hydrogeological information at a scale of 1:200,000 and smaller and aims at improving the availability of this data.
Groundwater related data of Germany, Europe or even the world is captured in close cooperation with the geological surveys of the federal states of Germany, with national and international organisations or by technical cooperation projects with developing countries. This is often related to the compilation of hydrogeological maps. The map content und with it, the corresponding database depend on the availability of data, the map scale and the requirements of the map users. Decision-makers of the federal government, states and local authorities, water managers, heat suppliers, environmentalist groups and people interested in earth science are using these hydrogeological information and often combine and compare them with other data, e.g. on topography, geology, soil or landuse. Hydrogeological sections supplementing the twodimensional maps are helping to get a threedimensional idea of the subsurface environment.
Large amounts of spatial groundwater data is managed and processed using geoinformation systems and data base technology. The Hydrogeological Information System (FISHy) that is established at BGR, offers users easy and specific access to spatial hydrogeological information and supports planning and decision making processes as well as reporting commitments, e.g. for the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive.