Evaluation of Minimum Karst Spring Discharge Using a Simple Rainfall-Input Model: The Case Study of Capodacqua di Spigno Spring (Central Italy)

Abstract

The increasing occurrence of widespread drought phenomena is a global environmental emergency, especially for the effects of ongoing climate change on groundwater availability. Dry years and extreme temperatures are common drivers of current climate impacts all over the world, including, for example, the freshwater supply for drinking and agriculture purposes, ecosystems, forestry, health, etc. In this frame, to ensure temporal water availability in water-stressed areas, sustainable groundwater management is an increasing challenge. Most groundwater in the South-East Latium Region, Central Italy, as in the whole Apennine Mountains chain, is stored in karst aquifers. In this area important water resources are present, but even here in the last decades they are affected by groundwater depletion as a consequence of occurring drought events, the upward trend in the global average temperature and the increase in groundwater extraction. Due to the lack of flow rate data of springs in many areas of Italy, spring response modeling could be a useful tool for supporting proper water resource management. Several research studies proposed methods based on relationships between spring discharges and rainfall data. The goal of this paper is to propose a simple linear model, based on rainfall-discharge cross correlations, in order to be able to simulate the effects of variation in rainfall on water resource connected Capodacqua di Spigno Spring minimum discharge. The results obtained using the developed model has been compared to an existing method that uses the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) for the estimation of the minimum annual spring discharge.

Karst Spring Recharge Areas and Discharge Relationship by Oxygen-18 and Deuterium Isotopes Analyses: A Case Study in Southern Latium Region, Italy

“…The study area is located in the karst coastal region of the Western Aurunci Mountains, which together with the Lepini and the Ausoni Mountains belong to the Pre-Apennines of Latium and form the carbonatic platform of the Volsci Ridge, separated from the Apennine ridge by the Latina Valley [15]. The hydrogeological basin of Capodacqua di Spigno Spring has a surface about of 51 km 2 and the spring is sited at an altitude of about 35 m a.s.l.…”

“…The high permeability of karst features, together with the presence of karst depressions involves a rapid capture and infiltration of rainfall water into the aquifer. The karst depressions originated from the carbonate dissolution processes related to the contact between rainwater and carbonate rocks, which are part of the Capodacqua di Spigno Spring hydrogeological basin ( Figure 2) [15].…”

“…The general groundwater flow direction in the aquifer is SE oriented, but there are also important local flows along the two faults that delimit the carbonatic series outcropping, especially that to the east, which seems to represent the main water conduit towards the spring [17]. The study area is located in the karst coastal region of the Western Aurunci Mountains, which together with the Lepini and the Ausoni Mountains belong to the Pre-Apennines of Latium and form the carbonatic platform of the Volsci Ridge, separated from the Apennine ridge by the Latina Valley [15]. The hydrogeological basin of Capodacqua di Spigno Spring has a surface about of 51 km 2 and the spring is sited at an altitude of about 35 m a.s.l.…”

“…The high permeability of karst features, together with the presence of karst depressions involves a rapid capture and infiltration of rainfall water into the aquifer. The karst depressions originated from the carbonate dissolution processes related to the contact between rainwater and carbonate rocks, which are part of the Capodacqua di Spigno Spring hydrogeological basin ( Figure 2) [15]. The general groundwater flow direction in the aquifer is SE oriented, but there are also important local flows along the two faults that delimit the carbonatic series outcropping, especially that to the east, which seems to represent the main water conduit towards the spring [17].…”

Hydraulic Behavior of Karst Aquifers

“…Sappa et al [18] provided a cross-correlation between rainfall and spring discharge in order to simulate the effect of variations in rainfall on water resources. The example of a spring (Capodacqua di Spino) in central Italy is shown, where missing spring discharge data were estimated by the proposed method.…”