Water resources and main groundwater bodies in the Province of Siena in the framework of the land management plan

Abstract

The management of water resources, especially drinking water, is no longer the responsibility of single municipal councils or groups of councils because European Union, national and regional legislation created and appointed authorities and bodies for this purpose. Faced with a strategic problem such as the management of water resources, local government in Tuscany has the task of defining planning strategies in line with Regional law no. 65/2014. This study is part of research aimed at defining water management at province level in the framework of regional planning. The study area includes the whole Province of Siena, where we evaluated surface- and ground- water resources, during preparation of the land management plan (territorial coordination plan) of the province, with special attention to aquifers that the Regional government considers significant (Relevant Groundwater Bodies and therefore strategic for the Province. We compared the groundwater resources with the overall demand for water in the Province in order to assess the sustainability of activities determining that demand; we also evaluated the danger level and risk of contamination, defining the corresponding vulnerabilities for the whole Province. The vulnerabilities were matched with a series of rules aimed at regulating land use so as to minimise the risk of polluting groundwater.