On the role of hydrological processes on the water balance of Lake Bolsena, Italy

Abstract

Lakes or reservoirs are complex environmental systems, and the sustainable management of their water resources requires advanced hydrological modelling techniques of the main state parameters (water levels and volumes, temperature, pollution level, etc.) to forecast the impacts of human activities on their natural context. Bolsena Lake in northern Lazio is a typical Italian lake environment, being a source of both environmental and economic wealth for the neighbouring area, drawing tourists and providing drinking and irrigation water. The complexity of this hydrogeological and anthropogenic system, and the current technical/scientific relevance of the several water emergencies that have occurred at the lake over the past decade, highlighted the need for a solid plan to manage the possible extreme scenarios that can affect the lake basin, including mitigation of decreases in the lake levels and for controlling lake water quality and water flow rates. The objective of this study was to assess the water budget of Lake Bolsena, accounting for the various jointly involved components, in order to model the lake levels, and to examine possible future scenarios that consider both natural and anthropogenic basin factors. Hydrometeorological data are analysed for setting such scenarios. An open-source computational model (CEQUEAU) was calibrated with the available data and then used to evaluate possible outcomes. The model simulation results demonstrated the developed hydrological model is capable of predicting water-level fluctuations with a good accuracy for both drought and flood events, identifying it as a valuable tool for basin/lake and lake/ river management and simulations.

When Climate Change and Overexploitation Meet in Volcanic Lakes: The Lesson from Lake Bracciano, Rome’s Strategic Reservoir

“…Lake Bracciano contains variable quantities of this element, which is naturally present in many environments and is closely related to natural processes including biological and volcanic activities and the local climate [114][115][116]. Although natural, high concentrations of arsenic are harmful for human health and animals, and the combination of anthropogenic pressure (i.e., eutrophication) and global warming could enhance its release into ecosystems [117,118], with adverse effects on ecosystem functioning, as already reported in other locations [46,117,119]. Therefore, continuous monitoring of this element in volcanic lakes is important.…”

“…The threats facing Lake Bracciano, including water level changes, species introductions and rising levels of nutrients and emerging pollutants, are common to other volcanic lakes both within the same region [57,59,118] and elsewhere in the world [15,[143][144][145]. Lake Bracciano is taken as a reference here because both the synergy between various threats and the consequences for biodiversity and associated ecosystem services have been well documented.…”

Demand uncertainty in modelling WDS: scaling laws and scenario generation

“…Among all the cited factors, the variability of the demand represents the major source of uncertainty (Pierleoni et al [1], Di Francesco et al [2]). Uncertainty inherent to water demand propagates into uncertain pressure heads and pipe flows, affecting the overall reliability of any kind of model describing a WDS.…”

Integrated Water Resources Management in a Lake System: A Case Study in Central Italy

“…Applications can be found in different fields involving water resources management, such as agriculture especially when quantity or quality issues are concearned [20][21][22][23]. Very important studies can be found also in lake level management, for example through the collaborative modeling process [24] or in predicting water level fluctuations [25,26], in other works the role of hydrological processes and water diversion are analyzed [27][28][29].…”