3. PREVIOUS ACTIVITIES
Many international meetings have reflected increasing attention paid to groundwater issues of hardrock environments. It was mainly the 24th Congress of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, held in 1993 in Oslo that was explicitly focused on "Hydrogeology of hard rocks". It was organised by Jens-Olaf Englund and Erik Rohr-Torp, editors of Proceedings were David and Sheila Banks.

The IAH Commission on Hardrock Hydrogeology organised between 1994 and 2006 eleven regional workshops and the International Conference on “Groundwater in Fractured Rocks” in Prague 2003 (see the text below). The results of all meetings were publishedin ten volumes of Proceedings. Results of the Jugowice meeting will be published soon as well as selected papers of the Prague Conference that will appear as the IAH Selected Papers Volume 9 (see the next chapters).

Commission meetings
Starting from the 27th IAH Congress held in Nottingham, UK, members of the Commission on Hardrock Hydrogeology and professionals interested in hardrock issues have met during the following IAH Congresses and other important IAH meetings:

  • 27th Congress in Nottingham, UK (1997)
    28th Congress in Las Vegas, USA (1998)
  • 29th Congress in Bratislava, Slovakia (1999)
  • 30th Congress in Cape Town, South Africa (2000)
  • 31st Congress in Munich, Germany (2001).
  • 32nd Congress in Mar del Plata, Argentina (2002)
  • International Conference on “Groundwater in Fractured Rocks” in Prague, Czechia (2003)
  • 33rd Congress in Zacatecas, México (2004)
  • 2nd Workshop of the Iberian RWG, Évora (2005)
  • 4rd Workshop of the RWG of the Bohemian Massif, Jugowice (2006)
    Workshops of Regional Working Groups and the International Conference on “Groundwater in Fractured Rocks”-Prague 2003
    Workshops of Regional Working Groups (RWG) are the most important meetings of the IAH Commission on Hardrock Hydrogeology. Even though focused on regional issues, due to their international character they enable mutual information on various hardrock problems and fruitful discussions. Up to now, all these Workshops were concluded by publication of presentations in special volumes of Proceedings.

    First Workshop of the RWG of the Bohemian Massif - Rohanov 1994
    October 3-5, 1994 in Rohanov, Czech Republic
    Organised by the Regional WG on Hardrock Hydrogeology of the Bohemian Massif
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Gallery of Photographs
    Second Workshop of the RWG of the Bohemian Massif - Borowice 1996
    September 18-20, 1996 in Borowice, Poland
    Organised by the Regional WG on Hardrock Hydrogeology of the Bohemian Massif
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Gallery of Photographs
    First Workshop of the Iberian RWG - Miraflores de la Sierra 1997
    September 11-13, 1997 in Miraflores de la Sierra, Madrid, Spain
    Organised by the Iberian Regional WG on Hardrock Hydrogeology
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Gallery of Photographs
    First Workshop of the Fennoscandian RWG - Äspö 1998
    May 26-27, 1998 in Äspö, Sweden
    Organised by the Fennoscandian Regional WG on Hardrock Hydrogeology
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Third Workshop of the RWG of the Bohemian Massif - Windischeschenbach 1998
    October 28-30, 1998 in Windischeschenbach, Germany
    Organised by the Regional WG on Hardrock Hydrogeology of the Bohemian Massif
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Second Workshop of the Fennoscandian RWG - Oslo 2001
    August 14-16, 2001 in Oslo, Norway
    Organised by the Fennoscandian Regional WG on Hardrock Hydrogeology
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Gallery of Photographs
    First Workshop of the RWG of the Middle and East Mediterranean - Tinos 2002
    June 12-14, 2002 at the Tinos Island, Hellas
    Organised by the Regional Working Group on Hardrock Hydrogeology of the Middle and East Mediterranean
    Papers will be published in a Volume and edited by George Stournaras
    Gallery of Photographs
    International Conference on "Groundwater in Fractured Rocks" - Prague 2003
    September 15-19, 2003 in Prague, Czech Republic


    The Conference was jointly convened by IAH Commission on Hardrock Hydrogeology, IAH Czech National Committee, Charles University Prague, Czech Asociation of Hydrogeologists and supported by UNESCO as a contribution to the implementation of the Groundwater Component of the IHP VI 2002-2007 Programme - Water Interaction Systems at Risks and Social Challenges.

    More than two hundred and twenty participants from 42 countries all over the world attended the Conference.
    During the Conference 125 presentations were presented orally in two parallel sessions and 45 as posters, all pre-published as extentended abstracts in the Conference Proceedings and on the CD.
    As a part of the Conference various professional meetings and technical excursions were organised:
    Special workshop on "Urban stormwater disposal using infiltration" was convened by Radomir Muzikar, Czech Republic. The principal speaker was David Watkins from Camborne School of Mines–University of Exeter, UK. 110 experts, administrators and decision-makers from Czechia and Slovakia attended the workshop.
    Roundtable session "Source protection zones in fractured rocks“ was organised by Jaroslav Vrba and Radomir Muzikar, Czech Republic. Principal lecturers were Alain Pochon (Switzerland) and Julio Carneiro (Portugal). The session was attended by 36 participants.
    The meeting of the IAH Commission on Managed Aquifer Recharge convened its Second Plenary Session chaired by Ian Gale, UK (IAH-MAR deputy chair).
    During the Two-day Pre-Conference Excursion (13.-14.9.2003) the participants visited southern Bohemia, during the Three-day Post-Conference Excursion (20-22.9.2003) the well-known region of the West-Bohemian mineral and thermal waters. Mid-Conference Excursion (17.9.2003) offered various possibilities: visit of the Bohemian Karst, area of Cretaceous deposits in the Jizera River catchment and environs of the historical town of Kutná Hora.
    Gallery of Photographs

    Third Workshop of the Fennoscandian RWG - Helsinki 2004
    June 7-9, 2004 in Helsinki, Finland
    Organised by the Fennoscandian Regional WG on Hardrock Hydrogeology
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Gallery of Photographs

    Second Workshop of the Iberian RWG – Évora 2005
    May 18-21, 2005 in Évora, Portugal
    Organised by the Portuguese IAH Chapter and the Iberian Regional WG on Hardrock Hydrogeology
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Gallery of Photographs

    Second Workshop of the RWG of the Middle and East Mediterranean – Athens 2005
    October 5-6, 2005 in Athens, Hellas
    Organised within the framework of the 7th Hellenic Hydrogeologic Conference.
    Presented papers published in the two-volume of the Hellenic Hydrogeologic Conference and the MEM Workshop Proceedings

    Fourth Workshop of the RWG of the Bohemian Massif – Jugowice 2006
    June 21-23, 2006 in Jugowice, Poland
    Organised by the Wroclaw University and the RWG on Hardrock Hydrogeology of the Bohemian Massif
    Papers published in the Workshop Proceedings
    Gallery of Photographs