Groundwater is traditionally the major source of drinking water in Slovenia, contributing majority of all water supply quantity in the country. Slovenian groundwater sources exhibit high regional and seasonal variability, and lately there is a tendency of more frequent and more pronounced droughts. Since there is to be expected probable future crisis in water supply, the indicator is gaining on importance. Main contributions of the method used in idicator development, as of the indicator itself, are as follows:
- to improve groundwater quantity assessment, as well as forecasting and alarming in case of hydrologic extremes, e.g. hydrologic drought in aquifers;
- to identify those aquifer areas prone to frequent hydrologic droughts;
- to improve groundwater management in the fields of drinking water supply and protection of groundwater dependent aquatic ecosystems.