The University of Bologna Takes Action to Protect Groundwater Resources

From the large karstic springs that feed Rome’s and Naple’s aqueducts to those in Irpinia used by the Apulia region, groundwater represents the main drinking water source in Italy. To monitor and protect it, the Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences of the University of Bologna struck a collaboration agreement with the Southern Apennines District Basin Authority .

Funded by the Development and Cohesion Fund under the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energetic Security, the agreement involves monitoring the quantitative state of the waters, defining the hydrological and water balance and evaluating the ecological flow in order to contribute to updating the Water Management Plan.

‘Despite its strategic relevance, groundwater, and large springs in particular, is not well-known, poorly monitored and often not-appropriately valued’, explains Alessandro Gargini, hydrogeologist, professor at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, and scientific director of the agreement. ‘For these reasons, we are working on establishing  a monitoring network for springs, both for drinking water use and for natural springs, throughout Southern Italy’.

The project - called RMCISS-DAM: Monitoring Network for Groundwater Bodies and Springs of the Southern Apennines District – was born to implement, potentiate and homogenise water bodies monitoring systems in Southern Italy, and to verify the status of implementation of regional monitoring plans. This way, it will be possible to integrate and enhance the systems allowing to monitor the state of aqueducts and underground springs.

Preserving groundwater sources is indeed crucial, not only in account of their abundance (it is estimated that for each litre of superficial water there are approximately 100 litres of groundwater), but also because they are far more resilient to climate change and droughts. Furthermore, groundwater resources sustain several ecosystems, so effective monitoring can help preserve habitats and ensure an appropriate ecological flow to superficial waters, which is essential to preserve biodiversity.

Coordinated by Prof. Alessandro Gargini, the research group from the University of Bologna involved in the project is composed of four geologists – one PhD student (Tommaso Casati) and three research fellows (Maria Alberti, Saverio Bizzarri, Sara Petruzzellis) – and a naturalist research fellow (Claudia Pensa).