Preliminary assessment on flood mitigation potential via managed aquifer recharge in the Brenta megafan (Italy)

Micól Mastrocicco (a), Nicoló Colombani (b), Bruno Boz (c) & Bruna Gumiero (d)
(a) Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara, Via Saragat, 1 - 44122 Ferrara, Italy. E-mail: mtm@unife.it (b) Department of Earth Sciences , Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy. E-mail: nicolo.colombani@uniroma1.it (c) Freelance consultant, Bioenergy and Climate Change Department, Veneto Agricoltura, Viale dell'Università, 14 - 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy. E-mail: bruno.boz@alice.it (d) Department of Biological Geological and Environmental Science (BiGeA), Bologna University, Via Selmi, 3 - 40126 Bologna, Italy. E-mail: bruna.gumiero@unibo.it

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) design and operation must incorporate the expected long-term performance from a water quantity perspective to sustainably mitigate hydrologic impacts of groundwater overexploitation. Gravity driven infiltration ditches are one of many MAR schemes that could augment the available water resources. In the present study, an infiltration system (IS) consisting of 8 ditches was monitored to determine its hydrologic performance over time and its possible export to similar areas of the Brenta Megafan (Northern Italy). The IS displayed an almost constant capacity to infiltrate the diverted water with a total amount of 0.8 Mm3/ha/y. The good results suggest to promote this technique in other areas that suffer from groundwater resources depletion

flood mitigation, aquifer recharge, infiltration trenches, gravel soils, agricultural land.