A groundwater flow model of the Alpine valley aquifer in the Aosta Plain (NW Italy) showed that well pumping can induce river streamflow depletions as a function of well location. Analysis of the water budget showed that ∼80% of the water pumped during 2 years by a selected well in the downstream area comes from the baseflow of the main river discharge. Alluvial aquifers hosted in Alpine valleys fall within a particular hydrogeological context where groundwater/surface-water relationships change from upstream to downstream as well as seasonally. A transient groundwater model using MODFLOW2005 and the Streamflow-Routing (SFR2) Package is here presented, aimed at investigating water exchanges between the main regional river (Dora Baltea River, a left-hand tributary of the Po River), its tributaries and the underlying shallow aquifer, which is affected by seasonal oscillations. The three-dimensional distribution of the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer was obtained by means of a specific coding system within the database TANGRAM. Both head and flux targets were used to perform the model calibration using PEST. Results showed that the fluctuations of the water table play an important role in groundwater/surface-water interconnections. In upstream areas, groundwater is recharged by water leaking through the riverbed and the well abstraction component of the water budget changes as a function of the hydraulic conditions of the aquifer. In downstream areas, groundwater is drained by the river and most of the water pumped by wells comes from the base flow component of the river discharge

Stefania, G., Rotiroti, M., Fumagalli, M., Simonetto, F., Capodaglio, P., Zanotti, C., et al. (2018). Modeling groundwater/surface-water interactions in an Alpine valley (the Aosta Plain, NW Italy): the effect of groundwater abstraction on surface-water resources. HYDROGEOLOGY JOURNAL, 26(1), 147-162 [10.1007/s10040-017-1633-x].

Modeling groundwater/surface-water interactions in an Alpine valley (the Aosta Plain, NW Italy): the effect of groundwater abstraction on surface-water resources

Stefania, GA
;
Rotiroti, M;Fumagalli, ML;Zanotti, C;Bonomi, T
Ultimo
2018

Abstract

A groundwater flow model of the Alpine valley aquifer in the Aosta Plain (NW Italy) showed that well pumping can induce river streamflow depletions as a function of well location. Analysis of the water budget showed that ∼80% of the water pumped during 2 years by a selected well in the downstream area comes from the baseflow of the main river discharge. Alluvial aquifers hosted in Alpine valleys fall within a particular hydrogeological context where groundwater/surface-water relationships change from upstream to downstream as well as seasonally. A transient groundwater model using MODFLOW2005 and the Streamflow-Routing (SFR2) Package is here presented, aimed at investigating water exchanges between the main regional river (Dora Baltea River, a left-hand tributary of the Po River), its tributaries and the underlying shallow aquifer, which is affected by seasonal oscillations. The three-dimensional distribution of the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer was obtained by means of a specific coding system within the database TANGRAM. Both head and flux targets were used to perform the model calibration using PEST. Results showed that the fluctuations of the water table play an important role in groundwater/surface-water interconnections. In upstream areas, groundwater is recharged by water leaking through the riverbed and the well abstraction component of the water budget changes as a function of the hydraulic conditions of the aquifer. In downstream areas, groundwater is drained by the river and most of the water pumped by wells comes from the base flow component of the river discharge
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Groundwater management; Groundwater/surface-water relations; Heterogeneity; Italy; Numerical modeling; Water Science and Technology; Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
English
2018
26
1
147
162
partially_open
Stefania, G., Rotiroti, M., Fumagalli, M., Simonetto, F., Capodaglio, P., Zanotti, C., et al. (2018). Modeling groundwater/surface-water interactions in an Alpine valley (the Aosta Plain, NW Italy): the effect of groundwater abstraction on surface-water resources. HYDROGEOLOGY JOURNAL, 26(1), 147-162 [10.1007/s10040-017-1633-x].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Stefania_et_al_2018_HJ.pdf

Solo gestori archivio

Tipologia di allegato: Publisher’s Version (Version of Record, VoR)
Dimensione 6.45 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
6.45 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia
Stefania_et_al_2017.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia di allegato: Author’s Accepted Manuscript, AAM (Post-print)
Dimensione 2.31 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
2.31 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/163429
Citazioni
  • Scopus 27
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 23
Social impact