The quantification of the amount of groundwater recharging (GR) aquifers, is a key information for the evaluation of the sustainability of water withdrawals and for its correct management. In an attempt to provide information and tools to achieve this objective in Italy, we applied a water balance method for estimating GR and other balance components by using gratis/libre open access data and open source software. The model provided groundwater recharge estimates for the Italian territory within a 10-km grid-cell resolution mesh, using monthly precipitation and temperature data from 1981 to 2010 from the ISPRA SCIA database. The model was calibrated and validated with reference to literature data available for the area of Apennines (Central Italy). The comparison of GR values estimated for specific years (i.e. 1992 and 2015), along with the data of water withdrawals, highlighted the following: (i) the mineral water industry consumption was close to 0.01% of the total GR in 1992; (ii) the civil use was not negligible, being ~10% of the total GR in 2015, and correlated with the number of inhabitants; (iii) a correlation between the number of inhabitants per region and the percentage of water withdrawn for civil use, with respect to total GR, was not evident, suggesting that the sustainability of water withdrawals varied regionally. The proposed approach may have strategic importance for developing countries, which are affected by water availability and have sustainability issues, especially in the context of climate change. Such applications would largely benefit from the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR) data. The proposed approach provides quantitative data to evaluate different indicators identified within the Goal 6 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of United Nations (https://sdgs.un.org) and to pursue specifically the Target 6.4 and 6.5 which aim at increasing the water-use efficiency and at ensuring the sustainable water resources management at all levels.
Nationwide groundwater recharge evaluation for a sustainable water withdrawal over Italy
Mauro Rossi;Marco Donnini;
2023
Abstract
The quantification of the amount of groundwater recharging (GR) aquifers, is a key information for the evaluation of the sustainability of water withdrawals and for its correct management. In an attempt to provide information and tools to achieve this objective in Italy, we applied a water balance method for estimating GR and other balance components by using gratis/libre open access data and open source software. The model provided groundwater recharge estimates for the Italian territory within a 10-km grid-cell resolution mesh, using monthly precipitation and temperature data from 1981 to 2010 from the ISPRA SCIA database. The model was calibrated and validated with reference to literature data available for the area of Apennines (Central Italy). The comparison of GR values estimated for specific years (i.e. 1992 and 2015), along with the data of water withdrawals, highlighted the following: (i) the mineral water industry consumption was close to 0.01% of the total GR in 1992; (ii) the civil use was not negligible, being ~10% of the total GR in 2015, and correlated with the number of inhabitants; (iii) a correlation between the number of inhabitants per region and the percentage of water withdrawn for civil use, with respect to total GR, was not evident, suggesting that the sustainability of water withdrawals varied regionally. The proposed approach may have strategic importance for developing countries, which are affected by water availability and have sustainability issues, especially in the context of climate change. Such applications would largely benefit from the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR) data. The proposed approach provides quantitative data to evaluate different indicators identified within the Goal 6 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of United Nations (https://sdgs.un.org) and to pursue specifically the Target 6.4 and 6.5 which aim at increasing the water-use efficiency and at ensuring the sustainable water resources management at all levels.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
