The study deals with the modeling of ground water flow and budget in the Mires aquifer of the Messara horological basin at southern Crete, Greece. The intensive agricultural activity in the region has led to uncontrollable and non-rational groundwater pumping. As a result, the aquifer level has declined significantly during the last 30 years.

The study is divided into three main parts. The first part focuses on the groundwater hydrology of the area. In the second part, the feflow software is set up and applied to model the aquifer level variations and groundwater flow. In the last part, climatic variation scenarios are examined to assess the impact on the groundwater resources.

The simulation results clarify the over-exploitation problem, while the effect of potential climatic variations provide the future aquifer response. Thus, appropriate prevention and protection measures can be designed for the sustainable management of the groundwater resources.