Scholarly record
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON GROUNDWATER FEEDING THE MAZZOCCOLO AND CAPODACQUA DI SPIGNO SPRINGS (CENTRAL ITALY): FIRST QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENTS
Abstract
In Italy, the summer of 2017 was characterized by serious problems related to the water crisis that affected the entire national territory. The Municipality of Formia, as well as many other territories in the Latina Province, had to face heavy rationing of the water supply during the summer, with consequent inconvenience for the population. In this paper, two spring and their relative aquifers were studied: the Mazzoccolo Spring and the Capodacqua di Spigno Spring. For both aquifers, a hydrogeological water balance was calculated based on the collection of thermo-pluviometric data on an appropriate time series, at the meteorological stations present within and around the study area. The main goal was to establish, in the context of current climate change, the potential of the aquifers that feed these water resources. For the calculation of the active recharge, in order to have an estimation value of the supply volumes, data referred to four meteorological stations in the study area for a time series of 40 years (1959 -1999) were collected and processed. The stations considered are the following: Gaeta, Itri, Esperia and SS Cosma e Damiano pluviometric stations. Each basin has been divided into finished square elements (FSE), with a size of 10000 m2, using a GIS software. The value of the effective infiltration to assign to each cell is a function of the annual rainfall value and the annual evapotranspiration value, both referred to the cell itself. The sum of all the values referred to each cell of the grid, provided the estimation of the aquifer annual average recharge as average annual volume. The same procedure was used for maximum, minimum and medium values of the rainfall on the time series considered and for the single annual rainfall value of 2017. Results confirmed the extraordinary nature of the drought event that occurred during the recharge period of 2017, showing a huge decrease of the average available water volume. In conclusion, for the Mazzoccolo and Capodacqua di Spigno Springs, future interventions are going to be planned for the catchment optimization in order to overcome any future possible water crises, even considering the permanent reserves, without compromising their medium and long term availability and their quality.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References10
Treidel H., Martin-Bordes J.L., Gurdak J., Climate change effects on groundwater resources: a global synthesis of findings and recommendations — 1st ed., 2011.
Singh R.D. & Kumar C.P., Impact of climate change on groundwater resources, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee – 247667 (Uttarakhand), 2014.
Sappa G., Ferranti F., De Filippi F.M., Hydrogeological water budget of the Karst aquifer feeding Pertuso Spring (Central Italy), 16th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference: Science and Technologies in Geology, Exploration and Mining, SGEM 2016; Volume 1, Pages 847-854, Albena, Bulgaria, 2016.
Naso G., Tallini M., Tettonica compressiva e distensiva nei Monti Aurunci Occidentali (Appennino Centrale): prime considerazioni, in “Geologica Romana”, vol. 29, pp. 455-462, 1993.
Rossi D., Bigi S., Del Castello M., Di Manna P., The structure of the Aurunci Mountains (Southern Lazio): a balanced cross section and its restoration, in “Bollettino Società Geologica Italiana”, special volume, no. 1, pp. 151-159, 2002.
Baldi A.M., Marzocchi A., Ricci F., Mencarini S., Vecellio L., Graziosi A., Di Mauro G., La torbidità alle captazioni idropotabili dei Monti Aurunci, in “Aquifer vulnerability and risk, 4° Congress on the protection and management of groundwater”, Atti del convegno, Reggia di Colono - Parma, pp. 1-25, 2005.
Accordi B., La componente traslativa nella tettonica dell'Appennino Laziale-Abruzzese, Geologica romana, Vol. V, 1966.
Bergomi C., Catenacci V., Cestari G., Manfredini M., Manganelli V.; Note illustrative della Carta Geologica d'Italia. Foglio 171. Gaeta e Vulcano di Roccamonfina, 1969.
Celico P., Idrogeologia dei massicci carbonatici, delle piane quaternarie e delle aree vulcaniche dell’Italia centro-meridionale (Marche e Lazio meridionali, Abruzzo, Molise e Campania), Quaderni della Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, 4/2, Roma, 1983.
Dumas D.; The impact of forests on the evolution of water resources in the mid-altitude Alps from the middle of the 19th century (Chartreuse massif, France); Journal of Alpine Research | Revue de géographie alpine, 2011.
Citing literature
Number of times cited according to Crossref: 3
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.
