USE OF GIS FOR OPTIMALIZATION OF HUMAN ACTIVITY IN A CATCHMENT-AREA -AN EXAMPLE OF THE BEAUCE REGION (FRANCE)

The quality of groundwater often represents a limiting factor for its exploitation. The chemical composition of groundwater is a very compli cated process involving geochemical, hydrochemical, and biochemical in teraction between the water and the rock with which it is in contact. In addition, as a result of human activity, the deterioration of groun dwater quality is a serious problem. The use of a geographic informati on system (GIS) combining various data may help solve this problem. Th e article describes multicriterion analysis applied to the Beauce basi n in France, which is a part of the SAGE project of the BRGM Orleans.