Abstract
In early 1980’s, the Italian scientific community, together with a number of institutional decision-makers, realized how urgent it was to protect natural and environmental resources. They agreed that an adequate level of scientifically organized knowledge allows the accurate planning and development of environment systems through the management and direction of the effective development process, but without stopping it. Since the special VAZAR1 project was first set up in 1984, as part of the GNDCI-CNR2 scientific context it has been the cardinal center point of Research National Program “Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment”. The problem of groundwater contamination was examined in this program for the very first time in Italy in an organic and extensive manner as a key for forecasting and prevention purposes. The Italian approaches to assessing and mapping groundwater vulnerability to contamination are essentially based on two main methodologies: 1) the GNDCI Basic Method [1,2] a HCS type approach that can be used for any type of Italian hydrogeologic situation, even where there is a limited number of data. A unified legend and symbols are also defined for each hydrogeologic level. 2) The SINTACS method [2,3], a PCSM developed for use prevalently in areas with a good data base coverage. The methodological approaches described in this paper now make up the Italian standard which has been dealt with in the recent very important Italian Law (152/993) and which are now ratified in the national guidelines [4] produced by ANPA, the Italian National Agency for Environment Protection. The methods, besides Italy [5] have been applied in several other Countries [6–10] and others.
Highlights
The intrinsic vulnerability of aquifers to contamination is “the specific susceptibility of aquifer systems, in their various parts and in the various geometric and hydrodynamic settings, to ingest and diffuse fluid and/or hydro-vectored contaminants, the impact of which, on the groundwater quality, is a function of space and time” [11]
The Italian approaches to assessing and mapping groundwater vulnerability to contamination are essentially based on two main methodologies: 1) the GNDCI Basic Method [1,2] a Hydrogeologic Complexes and Situations (HCS) type approach that can be used for any type of Italian hydrogeologic situation, even where there is a limited number of data
Groundwater protection is only aided by the time of travel, that is, by the thickness of the unsaturated zone; it is inversely related to the ingestion capacity, vertical percolation velocity and to the mechanical dispersion that are typical of the medium
Summary
The intrinsic (i.e. natural) vulnerability of aquifers to contamination is “the specific susceptibility of aquifer systems, in their various parts and in the various geometric and hydrodynamic settings, to ingest and diffuse fluid and/or hydro-vectored contaminants, the impact of which, on the groundwater quality, is a function of space and time” [11]. CIVITA persists for a long time or if a contaminant is persistent and mobile, the attenuation capacity of the soil dwindles and vulnerability increases in time In these cases, groundwater protection is only aided by the time of travel, that is, by the thickness of the unsaturated zone; it is inversely related to the ingestion capacity, vertical percolation velocity and to the mechanical dispersion that are typical of the medium. The evaluation of the specific vulnerability of an aquifer should be made case by case, taking into account all the chemical and physical features of each single contaminant that is present (or of a group of similar contaminants), the type of source (punctual or diffused), quantity, means and rates of contaminant applications [12,13,14] This approach, scientifically valuable and adequate for the case of the evaluation of a potential contamination [15] of a CSC in small areas, is quite impracticable where the goal is the assessment of aquifer vulnerability for large areas or when it is carried out as part of contamination prevention and aquifer protection planning
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