Software tools for management of conjunctive use of surface- and ground-water in the rural environment: integration of the Farm Process and the Crop Growth Module in the FREEWAT platform

Abstract The coordinated use of surface- and ground-water over time and space as two components of a single irrigation system is of outmost importance in many rural areas of the world, in order to assure crop production sustainability, to restore ongoing and to prevent future issues related to freshwater quality and quantity mismanagement/deterioration. New technological solutions, such as GIS-integrated simulation models, may provide reliable tools in order to evaluate impacts in space and time and to properly manage conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater and water-constrained agricultural production. After presenting the common open source simulation programs for dealing with conjunctive use, we discuss and present the integration of the Farm Process (FMP; embedded in the USGS's MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Model) coupled to a Crop Growth Module (CGM) within the open source and public domain QGIS-integrated FREEWAT platform. Using FMP in FREEWAT gains the benefit of the spatial environment and data management tools of a GIS solution, and to perform proper analysis of dynamically integrated terms of the hydrological cycle, to effectively balance crop water demand and supply from different sources of water. A simple hypothetic, yet realistic, application of the proposed approach with FMP and CGM is presented, simulating the yield of irrigated sunflower at harvest in a Mediterranean area. Results provide an insight on the potential exploitation of the developed solution, including, but not limited, to: quantitative temporal analysis of irrigation water sources, detailed analysis of evaporation and transpiration terms (from irrigation, groundwater or rainfall). The coupling of FMP with CGM to estimate crop yield at harvest provides further management tools when dealing with crop productivity. In the simulated case study, the analysis of the water balance terms allowed identifying the relevance of the groundwater contribution to ETc-act, highlighting the role of natural root uptake. The proposed solution is thought to be deployed by water authorities, large farms and public/private companies managing irrigation areas. The use of these tools calls for dedicated capacity building to boost digitalization in the agricultural water sector in order to achieve data-based agricultural water management

The experience of ECHN-Italy: the voice of the Italian early career hydrogeologists

Not availabl

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

the freewat platform for the assessment of water availability and quality

Not available

Numerical modeling of the groundwater flow in the fractured and karst aquifer of the Salento peninsula (Southern Italy)

Water resources represented by coastal aquifers are very important for regions characterized by a relevant request of freshwater, but limited rainfall, lack of surface water bodies and intrusion of the seawater through the sediments which host groundwater. Therefore some coastal areas, like the Salento peninsula (southern Italy), are subjected to the risk of desertification and a proper management of groundwater resources requires tools to analyze and predict the water balance and the evolution of the physical system in response to human activities (e.g., ground water withdrawals) and climatic factors. The Salento peninsula is a typical Mediterranean basin, where the main water resource is the aquifer hosted in Cretaceous carbonatic rocks (Calcare di Altamura, Altamura limestone): this is a fractured and karst aquifer, with a poor recharge and complex relationships with the sea. In order to develop a tool to assess the water balance at regional scale for the considered aquifer system, a groundwater flow model was developed by Giudici et al. (2012a); it is based on a conceptual model obtained from a reconstruction of the hydrostratigraphic architecture of the region, which includes the main aquifer and the overlaying rocks characterized by low permeability which can host local and relatively thin aquifers. In this paper that work is updated, by improving the reconstruction of the hydraulic head and of the conceptual model, above all in those areas that the previous model evidenced as critical for the absence of fresh water along the whole aquifer thickness. Moreover, since the estimate of some model's input parameters is affected by high uncertainty, a sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate the effects of this uncertainty on the model's results

A Modelling Approach for Assessing the Hydrogeological Equilibrium of the Karst, Coastal Aquifer of the Salento Peninsula (Southeastern Italy): Evaluating the Effects of a MAR Facility for Wastewater Reuse

The Salento Peninsula is characterized by poor surface water resources, due to the karstic nature of its territory. On the other hand, important groundwater resources are located in the deep, karst, coastal aquifer, which is of strategic importance for the economic and social development of the area. The increasing water demand, however, if not properly managed may pose serious problems to the hydrogeological equilibrium of this aquifer, which is highly susceptible to natural and anthropogenic changes and to saltwater intrusion. Taking steps from the previous works, the present paper focuses on the characterization of the deep aquifer of the Adriatic portion of the Salento Peninsula from a quantitative point of view by means of modelling tools for the simulation of groundwater dynamics. Conclusions about the extent of the saltwater intrusion phenomenon are consequently inferred. As a result of the implementation of a density-dependent flow model, the lateral extent of such phenomenon and the vertical depth of the transition zone between freshwater and saltwater were inferred, highlighting also the role of major faults which characterize the hydraulic behaviour of the karst system under exam. The model was also applied to design a Managed Aquifer Recharge facility for management and protection of the hydrogeological equilibrium of the deep aquifer. Its positive effects on the advancement of the saline front were highlighted. Model results also allowed identifying areas where the lack of data prevents a proper comprehension of the hydrogeological processes investigated, thus representing a supporting tool for planning further monitoring campaigns

Il ruolo dell'idrogeologo: dalla raccolta dati all'interpretazione di un modello numerico

Le attività che un idrogeologo è chiamato a svolgere richiedono molteplici competenze che possono spaziare su più discipline e sono finalizzate a fornire un'appropriata conoscenza dei fenomeni fisici e chimici che caratterizzano un sistema naturale [...]

Enhancing water resource management in rural areas by means of simulation tools

Conjunctive use of ground- and surface-water in agriculture is of paramount importance in many rural areas of Europe, where freshwater resource is facing growing pressure, due to both human impacts and climate changes. In this framework, the development of open source public domain GIS-integrated, fully distributed and numerically-based simulation platforms may provide powerful tools to support planning, management and monitoring activities. The HORIZON 2020 FREEWAT (FREE and open source software tools for WATer resource management, www.freewat.eu) implements the Farm Process (FMP) embedded in MODFLOW-OWHM to simulate conjunctive water use in rural areas under demand-driven and supply-constrained conditions, taking also into account constraints on well abstraction and water-rights ranking of water accounting units. The choice to integrate the FMP, after a careful review of the available codes, is related to the rigorous approach in dealing with the groundwater component. Thus the FMP allows to dynamically integrate infiltration, surface runoff and deep percolation components, to effectively balance crop water demand and supply from both sources of water

[Nice to see you again! Italian ECH back in action at national and international congresses]

Not availabl

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