1,721,041 research outputs found
Arsenic and Boron Hydrogeochemistry behaviour during Managed Aquifer Recharge Operations.
Full text linkThe Cornia Valley aquifer system (Tuscany, Italy) is the main source for irrigation, industrial purposes, and for potable water supply for the zone and the Elba island. Sixty years of its overexploitation caused a remarkable potentiometric drawdown accompanied with a wide seawater intrusion and a severe degradation of the quality of the groundwater (Rossetto et al., 2018; 2019).
In the early 2000s, extensive research regarding anomalous high concentrations of Boron in the Cornia Valley was carried out. These studied the hydrochemistry of the area, determining also anomalous high concentrations of Arsenic (Pennisi et al., 2009). In addition, one of the biggest schemes treating Arsenic for drinking water started operating with other two plants for Boron (Comune di Suvereto, 2013). Furthermore, in 2015 the LIFE REWAT project was started in order to set a strategy to recover and improve the availability of water in the area through a series of technical and social interventions (Rossetto et al., 2018).
Within LIFE REWAT, Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) was identified as a solution to counterbalance the stressed hydrologic system. Thus, a pilot MAR scheme infiltrating harvested rainwater from the Cornia River was implemented. It is provided by a hi-tech high-frequency automated and remotely controlled system for operating the plant and monitoring water quantity and quality. This system is supported by the data gathered from different sensors installed in the area, recording into a database. Additionally, discrete groundwater sampling takes place monthly (Rossetto et al., 2018; 2019).
The database contains recordings from two consecutive hydrological years. The first year measurements and samplings were done under natural recharge conditions, while during the second year the MAR scheme was under operation. This initial data provides insights on concentration variations of Boron and Arsenic after one-year operation of the MAR scheme. However, the main processes involved still need to be understood. Therefore, long-term and short-term dedicated field experiments are designed to analyse the induced variations. This work presents a model based hydrogeochemical approach for the behaviour analysis of these elements under MAR operations to determine the transiency of these concentration changes
FREEWAT: FREE and open source software tools for WATer resource management
No full textFREEWAT is an HORIZON 2020 project financed by the EU Commission under the call WATER INNOVATION: BOOSTING ITS VALUE FOR EUROPE. FREEWAT main result will be an open source and public domain GIS integrated modelling environment for the simulation of water quantity and quality in surface water and groundwater with an integrated water management and planning module. FREEWAT aims at promoting water resource management by simplifying the application of the Water Framework Directive and other EU water related Directives. Specific objectives of the FREEWAT project are: to coordinate previous EU and national funded research to integrate existing software modules for water management in a single environment into the GIS based FREEWAT; to support the FREEWAT application in an innovative participatory approach gathering technical staff and relevant stakeholders (in primis policy and decision makers) in designing scenarios for the proper application of water policies.
The open source characteristics of the platform allow to consider this an initiative "ad includendum" (looking for inclusion of other entities), as further research institutions, private developers etc. may contribute to the platform development.
Through creating a common environment among water research/professionals, policy makers and implementers, FREEWAT main impact will be on enhancing science- and participatory approach and evidence-based decision making in water resource management, hence producing relevant and appropriate outcomes for policy implementation. The Consortium is constituted by partners from various water sectors from 10 EU countries, plus Turkey and Ukraine. Synergies with the UNESCO HOPE initiative on free and open source software in water management greatly boost the value of the project. Large stakeholders involvement is thought to guarantee results dissemination and exploitation
The future of Managed Aquifer Recharge in Italy: the European FPVII MARSOL Project and the European Innovation Partnership on Water Mar to Market
Full text linkWater scarcity, especially in the Mediterranean rim, poses the relevant issue of water saving in human activities and of finding new sources of water, also for agro-ecosystem maintenance. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) techniques constitute a promising solution to the above-mentioned issue. In this contribution, we discuss the state of MAR application in Italy also in relation to some projects co-funded by the European Union. Some ideas for the large scale application of these techniques for non-conventional water use are presented
Evaluating the feasibility of hydraulic and physical barriers at contaminated sites by means of multicriteria analysis
Full text linkControlling contaminant plumes in groundwater using pump and treat or hydraulic and physical barriers is a common practice to contain and reduce solute contaminants in remediation activities. Recent evolution in engineering techniques also allowed to extend the number of solutions that can be designed and set in practice. As such, the decision-making process assumes great importance in leading the selection of the best suitable technology for a certain case study. This process has to take into account technical, environmental and socioeconomic factors. This paper presents the results of a research project aimed at defining a multi-criteria procedure analysis to support the decision-making process in the barrier technology selection, taking into account technical, economic, social and environmental factors. A multi-criteria analysis methodology has been defined to provide a quantitative tool to guide the selection of the best suitable technology concerning a specific case. The methodology was applied to a real case, selected from many case studies based on data availability and quality, in order to verify the effectiveness of the procedure in evaluating the alternative selections and to highlight the differences between the results of the multi-criteria analysis and the real engineers choices. A sensitivity analysis was performed to analyze the influence of each criterion on the final result of the study. With this paper we aim to start a discussion to deepen the decision making process, in order to develop methodologies allowing to chose the best solution without subjective evaluations
LIFE REWAT - sustainable water management in the lower Cornia Valley.
No full textIntroduction
The availability of water sources for irrigation is diminishing in all parts of the world, and the conflicts between urban and agricultural interests for this water are rising due to the increasing demand of food by a growing population in the next few years. This situation is exacerbated in the Mediterranean basin, where historically climate conditions were characterised by scarce annual rainfall and high summer temperature. In the last years, climate changes rise these issues by worsening of precipitation distribution (i.e. storms frequency and intensity) and increasing of heat wave phenomena (Iglesias and Garrote, 2015). This leads to a decrease of aquifer recharge and increase in fluxes towards the atmosphere by higher evapotranspiration.
The Cornia basin is 365 km2 large, and it runs through Livorno, Pisa and Grosseto provinces before flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Cornia river flows from Metallifere hills at 875 m o.s.l. and it's 50 km long. The hydrologic balance of the basin has been characterized for years by heavy quantitative imbalance, caused by an intensive use of water resource from the civil and agricultural sectors. Large part of the water resource is conveyed to Elba Island using a submarine pipe to supply about 50% of the Island water needs. Basin groundwater has been largely impacted, with head lowering of about 12 m the inland of lower Cornia plain. A volumetric calculation from the 70’s to 2001 estimates about 8 Mm3 total water deficit, with about the 50% built up in 90’s. This change had heavy effects on freshwater systems causing saline intrusion in coastal water bodies, modifying connected ecosystems (particularly coastal wetlands, like SIC/ZPS IT5160010 "Padule Orti Bottagone" and "Parco della Sterpaia") and complete salinization of the hydrogeologic units. Now, a dangerous trend of middle lower salinity is moving towards water potable fields (Bianchini et al., 2005; Pennisi et al., 2006).
Based on this, the aim of the REWAT project is to develop a participated strategy for an integrated water resources management at sub-catchment level, as a model of governance for sustainable development of the lower Cornia valley.
Project description
Life REWAT project (sustainable WATer management in the lower Cornia valley through demand REduction, aquifer Recharge and river Restoration) aims to develop a participated strategy for integrated water resource management at subcatchment level, as a model of governance for sustainable development of the lower Cornia valley.
Within the project, this strategy - adaptive towards Climate Change - is strictly linked to (re)balancing water budget of the complex hydrological system of the lower river Cornia.
Means to reach this goal will range from optimization of water consumption (civil and agricultural) to an increase of intentional groundwater recharge (through river morphological restoration and a Managed Aquifer Recharge, MAR, scheme).
As far as the lower Cornia valley, the purpose of the project consists of four specific objectives:
(i) fostering an integrated knowledge on the hydrological system and related water uses;
(ii) raising awareness and proactive involvement of water users on the importance of water saving, river restoration and groundwater banking. These actors are both public and private, individual or organized, and they make up the community which directly or indirectly affects the water budget in the lower Cornia valley;
(iii) demonstrating the technical feasibility, the economical advantages and the environmental sustainability of several technical solutions able to increase natural infiltration rates and managed recharge of aquifers, together with effective solutions for water saving;
(iv) developing an integrated and participated governance tool for surface and groundwater management at a sub-catchment scale, that will lead to sign a "Water Contract", a pioneer innovative experience in Italy of negotiated agreement involving all the waterbodies (fluvial, groundwater, transitional and coastal) and the related stakeholders.
The REWAT project will implement a number of demonstration measures in the lower Cornia valley, both structural (pilot) and non-structural (education and training), which will form the basis for a governance processes. The so-called “Water Contract” will then aim at sharing a long-medium term strategy for sustainable water management in the project area. The five demonstration actions are related to: (1) set up of a Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) facility, (2) river restoration of a Cornia river reach, (3) water saving in the civil water supply sector, (4) water saving in agriculture, (5) reduction and sustainable management of storm-water in urban areas. The strategic decision making process aiming at a long term negotiated agreement for water resources management in the lower Cornia basin will result in a voluntary governance tool for the wide scale implementation, in the medium term (post-LIFE), of the good practices developed in this project.
Water saving treatment in agriculture. Sub-surface drip-irrigation demonstration action
Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. var. scolymus L. (Fiori)), a perennial horticulture species, covers in Italy a surface of about 50,000 ha. In Tuscany, four varieties represent almost the total artichoke cropping surface. Traditional varieties “Violetto di Toscana” ad “Empolese” are still cultivated along with recent varieties derived from breeding project, “Terom” and “Tema”. In the lower Cornia valley, the artichoke cropping surface is about 600 ha and in order to increase stability and productivity of the crop, about 2000 – 4000 m3 ha-1 yr-1 of irrigation water is required. Drip irrigation systems allow to enhance water use efficiency in artichoke cultivation compared with other low efficiency systems (i.e. furrow and sprinkler) (Leskovar and Xu, 2013). Several studies demonstrated that yield of different crops increases using sub-surface drip-irrigation (SDI) system under high frequency irrigation management (Ayras et al., 1999).
The aim of the action is to demonstrate the feasibility of SDI for artichoke cultivation in order to reduce the water consumption for irrigation in lower Cornia valley. The action is located in Venturina (43°01'59.0"N 10°35'12.0"E) and cover a 4 ha surface inside the Stefano Forconi’s farm. The soil is characterized by sandy loam texture, 7.81 pH and 1.72 % of organic matter. Irrigation water is characterized by neutral pH (7.2) and 1363 μS/cm of electrical conductivity. The field test provides the comparison of SDI system respect to surface irrigation and surface drip irrigation. Moreover, deficit irrigation strategy will be investigating, in order to test the possible increasing of water saving in artichoke cultivation.
The LIFE REWAT Consortium is led by Consorzio di Bonifica Toscana Costa, a local institution devoted to water management, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, a public research university, ASA spa, a water utility, and the governing authority Regione Toscana.
References
Ayars J.E. Phene C.J. et al. 1999. Subsurface drip irrigation of row crops: A review of 15 years of research at the Water Management Research Laboratory. Agric. Water Manag, 42:1-27.
Bianchini G. Pennisi M. et al. 2005. Hydrochemistry of the high-boron groundwaters of the Cornia aquifer (Tuscany, Italy) Geothermics, 34:297-319.
Iglesias A. Garrote L. 2015. Adaptation strategies for agricultural water management under climate change in Europe. Agric. Water Manag, 155:113–124.
Leskovar D.I. Xu C. 2013. Irrigation strategies and water use efficiency of globe artichoke. Acta Hortic, 983:261-268.
Pennisi M. Bianchini G. et al. 2006. Behaviour of boron and strontium isotopes in groundwater-aquifer interactions in the Cornia Plain (Tuscany, Italy) Appl Geochem, 21:1169-1183
Is water a limiting factor for agricultural development in coastal Mediterranean plains? A case study in the Grosseto Province (Tuscany, Italy)
No full textModeling unsaturated zone flow and runoff processes by integrating MODFLOW-LGR and VSF, and creating the new CFL package
No full textIn this paper two modifications to the MODFLOW code are presented. One concerns an extension of Local Grid Refinement (LGR) to Variable Saturated Flow process (VSF) capability. This modification allows the user to solve the 3D Richards' equation only in selected parts of the model domain. The second modification introduces a new package, named CFL (Cascading Flow), which improves the computation of overland flow when ground surface saturation is simulated using either VSF or the Unsaturated Zone Flow (UZF) package. The modeling concepts are presented and demonstrated. Programmer documentation is included in appendices. © 2013 Elsevier B.V
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