Interpreting Groundwater and Weather Data to Investigate Karst Aquifer Recharge in a Semi‐Arid Site

The evaluation of groundwater recharge is a main issue in karst regions threatened by meteorological drought. Since June 2017, a measurement site consisting of a micrometeorological station and two monitoring wells is operational in the Salento peninsula (southern Italy) with the aim of establishing the relationships between groundwater fluctuations and weather forcings over different time scales. In this paper, using inductive reasoning, some insight and knowledge into the local recharge dynamics and monitoring well responses are gained. The results are as follows: (1) short-term fluctuations in water table well are due to atmospheric pressure changes combined or not with precipitation inputs; (2) seasonal fluctuations are apparently controlled by monthly cumulative rainfall; (3) long-term groundwater fluctuations seems to be strictly related to the meteorological variability. As research continues, the site may become a reference for exploring the response of the groundwater reservoir to ongoing climate change.