Open source GIS platform for water resource modelling: FREEWAT approach in the Lugano Lake

The FREEWAT platform is an innovative Free and Open Source water resource modelling platform integrated in the QGIS geospatial software, using the SpatiaLite database, and including globally-established simulation codes from the USGS MODFLOW models family. This paper demonstrates its application to the Lugano Lake basin case study, Switzerland and Italy. Two specific modules of the platform were used to execute data integration and analyses: the Observation Analysis Tool and the Lake Package. The first one is a newly developed module facilitating the integration of time-series observations into modelling by enabling pre- and post-processing in the model environment; the latter is an existing MODFLOW package allowing dynamic evaluation of groundwater/ lakes interaction. In the case study implementation, a participatory approach was adopted to enhance trust and acceptance of results. These show that integration of simulation codes within GIS is highly appreciated. Furthermore, its openness and freeness allow easily sharing of developed analysis and models. Stakeholders also positively evaluated the participatory process as it empowers decision making with a better understanding of model results and uncertainties. The combination of the FREEWAT platform and the participatory approach may constitute a valuable methodology to include scientifically based analysis to be used for policy design and implementation

Software tools for sustainable water resources management: The GIS-integrated FREEWAT platform

This paper aims at presenting the open source and public domain FREEWAT platform capabilities for water resource management, including: (i) pre-processing modules to facilitate the preparation of input data, (ii) modelling tools for the analysis of several processes aimed at supporting water resource management, and (iii) post-processing tools to present results. The FREEWAT platform is based on open source solutions to perform an integrated coupling between the QGIS desktop software, surface and subsurface model engines, mostly based on fully distributed and numerically-based codes developed by the USGS, and other software applications, and the SpatiaLite spatial database. The development of the FREEWAT platform was supported by the main needs and priorities expressed by relevant stakeholders from the water sector involved in the early stage of the project. Extensive testing on the platform is still going on and training material and six User Manuals were prepared to disseminate its use as a standard software for managing surface/sub-surface water quantity and quality dynamics under demand-driven and supply-constrained conditions. The testing phase also includes demonstration of the platform capabilities on 14 case studies at European scale and beyond, to address specific water management issues. Nine of them are devoted to the application of EU water-related Directives, while the others address water management issues in the rural environment under the requirements of EU and/or national/local regulations. Beyond software testing, this demonstration is thought as an experiment on involving stakeholders in the formation of water plans yet during the technical phase of the analysis

Deriving optimal operational policies for off-stream man-made reservoir considering conjunctive use of surface- and groundwater at the Bar dam reservoir (Iran)

Study region: The off-stream artificial Bar lake, built in 2015 to store the flood flows of the Bar river for domestic and industrial needs and with the objective to intentionally recharge the aquifer, is situated in the Razavi Khorasan province (Iran). Study focus: We present a methodology, based on the combination of a MODFLOW groundwater flow model for estimating seepage rates, and an optimization model, for the management and operation of an artificial reservoir considering surface/groundwater interactions for satisfying 12 Mm3/year of water demand. We simulated the reliable amount of water that can be supplied from the reservoir, considering reservoir seepage, maximizing water supply yields subject to the water supply reliability requirements, and the additional intentional volume of groundwater recharge. New hydrological insights for the region: Our results demonstrate the reliability of conjunctive use of surface-and ground-water in water scarce areas by exploiting reservoir infrastructures with relevant leakage losses, also for creating additional aquifer storage. In such systems, man-induced changes of lake stages can significantly affect the volume of water that seeps through the lakebed. The aquifer, under managed aquifer recharge operations, may then provide the resource not satisfied by the reservoir release, fulfilling 100 % reliability of water supply. The conjunctive use of surface- and ground-water, by improving water security, may open new sustainability views for leaking reservoirs, even if they were not initially designed for increasing aquifer recharge, in many areas worldwide

Information-Communication Technologies as an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Tool for Sustainable Development

Sustainability is a crucial and at the same time vital approach for satisfying future generations’ rights on natural resources. Toward this direction, global policies, supported by international organizations such as UNESCO and its international science programs, foster sustainable development as principal concept for the management of various thematic areas including the environment. The present work promotes the integration of information-communication technologies (ICTs) in the water resources management field as a state of the art concept that sets the basis for sustainable development at global scale. The research focuses on the ICTs contribution to the evolution of scientific and technological disciplines, such as satellite earth observations, real time monitoring networks, geographic information systems, and cloud-based geo information systems and their interconnection to integrated water resources management. Moreover, selected international research programs and activities of UNESCO International Hydrology Programme (IHP) are synoptically but comprehensively being presented to demonstrate the integration of the technological advances in water resources management and their role toward sustainable development

The freewat platform for planning and management of conjunctive use of ground- and surface-water

Simulation techniques, data analysis tools, FREEWAT platform, water-related Directive

A spatially distributed, physically-based modeling approach for estimating agricultural nitrate leaching to groundwater

Nitrogen-nitrate, while being fundamental for crop production, is of particular concern in the agricultural sector, as it can easily leach to the water table, worsening groundwater quality. Numerical models and Geographic Information System may support the estimation of nitrate leaching rates in space and time, to support sustainable agricultural management practices. In this paper, we present a module for the simulation of the processes involved in the nitrogen cycle in the unsaturated zone, including nitrate leaching. This module was developed taking steps from the ANIMO and EPIC model frameworks and coupled to the hydrological models integrated within the FREEWAT platform. As such, the nitrogen cycle module was then included in the FREEWAT platform. The developed module and the coupling approach were tested using a simple synthetic application, where we simulated nitrate leaching through the unsaturated zone for a sunflower crop irrigated district during a dry year. The results of the simulation allow the estimation of daily nitrate concentration values at the water table. These spatially distributed values may then be further used as input concentration in models for simulating solute transport in aquifers

Spatial analysis and simulation tools for groundwater management: the FREEWAT platform

FREEWAT is an HORIZON 2020 project financed by the EU Commission under the call WATER INNOVATION: BOOSTING ITS VALUE FOR EUROPE. FREEWAT main result is an open source and public domain GIS-integrated modeling environment for the simulation of groundwater quantity and quality, with an integrated water management and planning module. FREEWAT aims at promoting water resource management by simplifying the application of the Water Framework Directive and other EU water-related Directives. To this scope, the FREEWAT platform results from the integration in the QGIS Desktop of spatially distributed and physically-based codes (mostly belonging to the USGS MODFLOW family), which allow to get a deep insight in groundwater dynamics, taking into account the space and time variability of stresses which control the hydrological cycle. This is attempted in a unique GIS environment, where large spatial datasets can be managed and visualized. In this paper, a review of the tools/modules integrated in FREEWAT for data pre-processing and model implementation is provided. FREEWAT applicability was demonstrated through running 14 case studies, in the general framework of an innovative participatory approach, which consists in involving technical staff and relevant stakeholders (in primis policy and decision makers) during modeling activities, thus creating a common environment to enhance science and evidence-based decision making in water resource management

An approach for hydrogeological data management, integration and analysis

The conceptualisation of a groundwater system involves continuous monitoring and evaluation of a large number of parameters (e.g., hydraulic parameters). Regarding hydraulic properties of the aquifers, their quantification is one of the most common problems in groundwater resources and it is recognised that all methods to obtain them have their limitations and are scale dependants. Therefore, it is necessary to have methods and tools to estimate them within a spatial context and to validate their uncertainty when they are applied in an upper scale. All these datasets collected and generated to perform a groundwater conceptual model are often stored in different scales and formats (e.g., maps, spreadsheets or databases). This continuous growing volume of data entails further improving on how it is compiled, stored and integrated for their analysis. This thesis contributes to: (i) provide dynamic and scalable methodologies for migrating and integrating multiple data infrastructures (data warehouses, spatial data infrastructures, ICT tools); (ii) to gain higher performance of their analysis within their spatial context; (iii) to provide specific tools to analyse hydrogeological processes and to obtain hydraulic parameters that have a key role in groundwater studies; and (iv) to share open-source and user-friendly software that allows standardisation, management, analysis, interpretation and sharing of hydrogeological data with a numerical model within a unique geographical platform (GIS platform). A dynamic and scalable methodology has been designed to harmonise and standardise multiple datasets and third-party databases from different origins, or to connect them with ICT tools. This methodology can be widely applied in any kind of data migration and integration (DMI) process, to develop Data warehouses, Spatial Data Infrastructures or to implement ICT tools on existing data infrastructures for further analyses, improving data governance. A higher performance to obtain hydraulic parameters of the aquifer has been addressed from the development of a GIS-based tool. The interpretation of pumping tests within its spatial context can reduce the uncertainty of its analysis with an accurate knowledge of the aquifer geometry and boundaries. This software designed to collect, manage, visualise and analyse pumping tests in a GIS environment supports the hydraulic parameterization of groundwater flow and transport models. To enhance the hydraulic parameters quantification, a compilation, revision and analysis of the hydraulic conductivity based on grain size methodologies have been performed. Afterwards, the uncertainty of applying these methods on a larger scale has been addressed and discussed by comparison of the upscaling results with pumping tests. Finally, a sharing, open-source and user-friendly GIS-based tool is presented. This new generation of GIS-based tool aims at simplifying the characterisation of groundwater bodies for the purpose of building rigorous and data-based environmental conceptual models. It allows to standardise, manage, analyse and interpret hydrogeological and hydrochemical data. Due to its free and open-source architecture, it can be updated and extended depending on the tailored applications.La conceptualització d’un sistema hidrogeològic implica una continua monitorització i avaluació d’una gran quantitat de paràmetres (e.g., paràmetres hidràulics). Pel que fa als paràmetres hidràulics de l’aqüífer, la seva quantificació és un dels problemes més comuns als estudis hidrogeològics. És àmpliament reconegut que els mètodes per obtenir aquest tipus de paràmetres tenen les seves limitacions i són dependents de l’escala d’anàlisi. Per aquest motiu, cal disposar de mètodes i eines per estimar-los dins del seu context espacial i validar la seva incertesa quan s’apliquen en una escala superior d’anàlisi. Les dades recopilades i generades per realitzar un model conceptual hidrogeològic sovint s'emmagatzemen en diferents escales i formats (e.g., mapes, fulls de càlcul o bases de dades). Aquest volum de dades en continu creixement requereix d'eines i metodologies que millorin la seva compilació i gestió per al seu posterior anàlisi. Les contribucions realitzades en aquesta tesi son: (i) proporcionar metodologies dinàmiques i escalables per migrar i integrar múltiples infraestructures de dades (infraestructures de dades espacials i no espacials, o la implementació d'eines TIC); (ii) obtenir un major rendiment de l'anàlisi hidrogeològic tenint en compte el seu context espacial; (iii) proporcionar eines específiques per analitzar processos hidrogeològics i obtenir paràmetres hidràulics que tenen un paper clau en els estudis d'aigües subterrànies; i (iv) difondre software de codi lliure i de fàcil accés que permeti l'estandardització, gestió, anàlisi, interpretació i intercanvi de dades hidrogeològiques amb un model numèric dins d'una única plataforma de informació geogràfica (SIG). S'ha dissenyat una metodologia dinàmica i escalable per harmonitzar i estandarditzar múltiples conjunts de dades de diferents orígens, o bé per connectar aquestes infraestructures de dades amb eines TIC. Aquesta metodologia pot ser implementada en qualsevol tipus de procés de migració i integració de dades (DMI), per a desenvolupar infraestructures de dades espacials i no espacials, o bé per implementar eines TIC a les infraestructures de dades existents per a anàlisi addicionals; millorant així la governança de les dades. Un major rendiment per obtenir els paràmetres hidràulics de l'aqüífer s'adreça des del desenvolupament d'una eina SIG. La interpretació dels assaigs de bombament dins del seu context espacial, pot reduir la incertesa del seu anàlisi amb un coneixement precís de la geometria i els límits de l'aqüífer. Aquest software dissenyat per recopilar, administrar, visualitzar i analitzar els assaigs de bombament en un entorn GIS, dóna suport a la parametrització hidràulica dels models de flux i transport d'aigües subterrànies. Per millorar la quantificació dels paràmetres hidràulics, es va realitzar una compilació, revisió i anàlisi de la conductivitat hidràulica basada en metodologies de mida de gra. Posteriorment, s'ha considerat i discutit la incertesa d'aplicar aquests mètodes en una escala major comparant els resultats de la millora d'escala amb les proves de bombament. Finalment, es presenta una eina SIG lliure, de codi obert i de fàcil aplicació. Aquesta nova generació d'eines SIG pretenen simplificar la caracterització de les masses d'aigua subterrània amb el propòsit de construir models conceptuals ambientals rigorosos. A més, aquesta eina permet estandarditzar, gestionar, analitzar i interpretar dades hidrogeològiques i hidroquímiques. Donat que la seva arquitectura és de codi lliure i obert, es pot actualitzar i ampliar segons les aplicacions personalitzades que cada usuari requereixi.La conceptualización de un sistema hidrogeológico implica el continuo monitoreo y evaluación de una gran cantidad de parámetros (e.g., parámetros hidráulicos). Con respecto a los parámetros hidráulicos, su cuantificación es uno de los problemas más comunes en los estudios hidrogeológicos. Es ampliamente reconocido que los métodos para obtener este tipo de parámetros tienen sus limitaciones y son dependientes de la escala de análisis. En este sentido, es necesario disponer de métodos y herramientas para estimarlos dentro de su contexto espacial y validar su incertidumbre cuando se aplican en una escala superior de análisis. Los datos recopilados y generados para realizar un modelo conceptual hidrogeológico a menudo se almacenan en diferentes escalas y formatos (e.g., mapas, hojas de cálculo o bases de datos). Este volumen de datos en continuo crecimiento requiere de herramientas y metodologías que mejoren su compilación y gestión para su posterior análisis. Las contribuciones realizadas son: (i) proporcionar metodologías dinámicas y escalables para migrar e integrar múltiples infraestructuras de datos (ya sean infraestructuras de datos espaciales y no espaciales, o la implementación de herramientas TIC); (ii) obtener un mayor rendimiento del análisis hidrogeológico teniendo en cuenta su contexto espacial; (iii) proporcionar herramientas específicas para analizar procesos hidrogeológicos y obtener parámetros hidráulicos que desempeñan un papel clave en los estudios de aguas subterráneas; y (iv) difundir software de código abierto y de fácil acceso que permita la estandarización, gestión, análisis, interpretación e intercambio de datos hidrogeológicos con un modelo numérico dentro de una única plataforma de información geográfica (SIG). Se ha diseñado una metodología dinámica y escalable para armonizar y estandarizar múltiples conjuntos de datos de diferentes orígenes, o bien para conectar éstas infraestructuras de datos con herramientas TIC. Esta metodología puede ser implementada en cualquier tipo de proceso de migración e integración de datos (DMI), para desarrollar infraestructuras de datos espaciales y no espaciales, o para implementar herramientas TIC en las infraestructuras de datos existentes para análisis adicionales; mejorando así la gobernanza de los datos. Un mayor rendimiento para obtener los parámetros hidráulicos del acuífero se ha abordado desde el desarrollo de una herramienta SIG. La interpretación de ensayos de bombeo dentro de su contexto espacial, puede reducir la incertidumbre de su análisis con un conocimiento preciso de la geometría y los límites del acuífero. Este software diseñado para recopilar, administrar, visualizar y analizar las pruebas de bombeo en un entorno SIG, apoya la parametrización hidráulica de los modelos de flujo y transporte de aguas subterráneas. Para mejorar la cuantificación de los parámetros hidráulicos, se ha realizado una compilación, revisión y análisis de la conductividad hidráulica basada en metodologías de tamaño de grano. Posteriormente, se ha considerado y discutido la incertidumbre de aplicar estos métodos en una escala mayor comparando los resultados de la mejora de escala con los obtenidos en ensayos de bombeo. Finalmente, se presenta una herramienta SIG libre, de código abierto y de fácil aplicación. Esta nueva generación de herramienta SIG pretende simplificar la caracterización de los cuerpos de agua subterránea con el propósito de construir modelos conceptuales ambientales rigurosos. Además, esta herramienta permite estandarizar, gestionar, analizar e interpretar datos hidrogeológicos e hidroquímicos. Gracias a su arquitectura de código libre y abierto, se puede actualizar y ampliar según las aplicaciones personalizadas que cada usuario requieraPostprint (published version

FLOWPATH 2019 – NATIONAL MEETING ON HYDROGEOLOGY

FLOWPATH 2019, the 4th National Meeting on Hydrogeology, was held in Milan from 12th to 14th June 2019. According to the aim of the previous Editions of FLOWPATH, held in Bologna (2012), Viterbo (2014) and Cagliari (2017), the conference is an opportunity for Italian hydrogeologists to exchange ideas and knowledge on different groundwater issues. The objectives of the conference are: – To promote dialogue and exchange of scientific knowledge among young hydrogeologists; – To deepen the theoretical and practical aspects of our understanding on groundwater; – To update all the stakeholders, researchers and professionals on recent challenges in the hydrogeological sciences; – To encourage researchers, professionals and administrators to contribute to the improvement of water resources management