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abstract 254

SURFACE WATERS VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT: A CASE STUDY (TUSCIANO AND PICENTINO RIVERS)

Author(s): M. Giugni, N. Fontana, G. Lombardi, G. Marini
Maurizio Giugni Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering G. Ippolito, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy, phone: +39 081 7683443; fax: +39 081 5938936, e-mail: giugni@unina.it Gerardo Lombardi Water Au

Keyword(s): Surface waters, water quality assessment, environmental indexes, Water Protection Plans

Article:

Poster:

Session: OS5f Governance of water quality

AbstractThe Italian laws D.L.

152/99 and D.L: 152/2006 define the general framework for safeguarding surface, ground and coastal waters by

pursuing the objectives of preventing or containing pollution, restoring water quality, protecting waters used for

special purposes, guaranteeing the sustainable use of available resources and maintaining the waters’ natural ability to

cleanse itself of impurities.
The objectives will be met through the use of a variety of instruments, including the

objectives of environmental quality and Protection Plans. However, before Protection Plans can be defined, the

qualitative and quantitative status of water bodies needs to be determined and information has to be acquired

regarding the physical, natural, social and economic characteristics of the basins in order to assess anthropic pressure

and impact.
This varied set of investigative and planning activities constitutes a totally new approach to

environmental policies regarding water resources in Italy.
A methodological approach has been developed in

order to assess the vulnerability of surface waters and to define their environmental quality on the basis of an

integrated analysis of the river’s ecosystem, which makes it possible for each river (or reach of river) to be attributed

with an overall index reflecting its environmental quality (river’s environmental quality map).
This procedure had

been applied to the pilot watersheds of the Tusciano and Picentino rivers (Campania Region, Southern Italy), by

means of a monitoring network comprised of 10 experimental sections.
The application of the proposed

integrated approach (chemical, microbiological, toxicological, biological, hydraulic and ecological) has made it

possible to provide an albeit preliminary definition of the environmental quality status for the basin of the Tusciano

and Picentino rivers and to draw up a preliminary draft of the environmental quality map.
Moreover the results

obtained, combined with the availability of an updated map indicating water usage and discharges, could suggest a

preliminary definition of the areas of surface waters to be safeguarded, and the publication of practical guidelines for

environmental requalification by means of an integrated strategy of non-structural and structural interventions.

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SURFACE WATERS VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT: A CASE STUDY (TUSCIANO AND PICENTINO RIVERS)