Sustainability Indicators of Groundwater Withdrawal in a Heavily Stressed System: The Case of the Acque Albule Basin (Rome, Italy)

Vincenzo Piscopo, Chiara Sbarbati (), Francesca Lotti, Luigi Lana and Marco Petitta
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Vincenzo Piscopo: Department of Ecological and Biological Science, Tuscia University, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Chiara Sbarbati: Department of Ecological and Biological Science, Tuscia University, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Francesca Lotti: SYMPLE srl Piazza della Cura 7, 01019 Vetralla, Italy
Luigi Lana: Kataclima srl L.go F. Baracca 18, 01019 Vetralla, Italy
Marco Petitta: Earth Science Department, “La Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-22

Abstract: Groundwater sustainable yield is a concept widely treated theoretically in the literature. Moving from theoretical concepts to the definition of practical measures for groundwater management is not easy due to site-specific characteristics of the system. This study is aimed at identifying which factors influence the sustainable yield of the plain of Tivoli (Central Italy), where thermal springs with considerable flow (over 2 m 3 /s) emerge (or rather emerged) and supply a thermal plant. In the same plain, another profitable economic activity concerns the extraction of travertine; it caused a progressive decline in groundwater levels and in the discharge of the thermal springs. The hydrogeological history of the site and the data available in the literature and in new focused surveys are encapsulated in a simple flow model addressed to compare the pre- with the under-development conditions. The withdrawal of groundwater from the quarry area determined a significant impact on the water balance of the system. An increase in inflow from surrounding aquifers and a decrease in storage and in natural discharge of the travertine aquifer result in under-development conditions. Residual discharges towards the springs and river are very sensitive to the pumping flow rate of quarries, according to an inverse linear relationship; this hydrogeological feature may be adopted as an indicator of the sustainability of groundwater withdrawals from the plain. The residual discharge is most affected by the position of the pumping center in the groundwater flow net and its distance from boundaries to be captured, as well as on the depth and extent of the quarries. This lays the basis for developing sustainable management models of groundwater considering the economic and environmental aspects of the issue.

Keywords: sustainable yield; thermal water; residual discharge; Acque Albule Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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