Groundwater Recharge Assessment in the Carbonate Aquifer System of the Lauria Mounts (Southern Italy) by GIS-Based Distributed Hydrogeological Balance Method

The carbonate aquifer system of the northern sector of the Lauria Mounts, located in the southern-western part of the Basilicata region (southern Italy), represents a strategic hydrostructure of the Lucanian Apennines for its groundwater resources. Several springs exploited and not, characterized by important groundwater discharges, drain the aquifer system. In recent decades the demand of freshwater is rising in relation to the population needs, land use change and climate variations, rendering water availability in the future uncertain. For these reasons, intensive actions are being done to ensure the effective protection and quantification of the available groundwater resources. In this perspective, the assessment of the aquifer recharge is the starting point for the correct definition of the available groundwater resources, aimed at the delineation of the proper protection and adequate management of these resources. In this study the application of the inverse hydrogeological water balance method to assess the potential aquifer recharge distributed in the hydrogeological basin, has been carried out based on a GIS procedure. The hydrogeological characterization and the groundwater recharge assessment of the carbonate hydrostructure result to be essential to define integrated actions and strategies for groundwater effective protection and sustainable management.