Tool for regional - scale assessment of groundwater storage improvement in adaptation to climate change (LIFE TRUST)

Description:

The primary goal of the TRUST project was to demonstrate innovative actions to halt and reverse the slow but ongoing decline of the water table in the Veneto and Friuli Plain. This decline has been going on for 30-40 years. This negative trend is bound to worsen with climate change and is likely to lead to more intense and frequent droughts. The TRUST project set out to incorporate climate change into river basin management, and identify adaptation measures based on artificial aquifer recharge to mitigate the impacts of drought and water scarcity. The project area includes the Isonzo, Tagliamento, Livenza, Piave and Brenta rivers flowing eastwards, and the far western Bacchiglione river. Second, the TRUST project aimed to build up the capacity of the coordinating beneficiary to define the objectives and measures for the aquifer recharge in the Veneto and Friuli Upper Plain using excess surface waters (e.g. from floods), and to develop river-basin governance generally. TRUST set out to help the authorities and stakeholders to coordinate the macro-actions for artificial aquifer recharge at river-basin level. TRUST thus aimed to contribute to the implementation of European Union water policy, in particular the Water Framework Directive, the Floods Directive and the EU policy on water scarcity and droughts.

The TRUST project objective of improving the management of groundwater resources in the Upper Plain of Veneto and Friuli was reached. The project employed advanced technologies to define solutions for ensuring the sustainable water balance in the study area in view of future climate change. To this end, the project took a number of steps to improve the stakeholder involvement in river-basin management. A Technical Board was established including the key stakeholders concerned with groundwater management and exploitation. Stakeholders’ participation proved fundamental for guaranteeing the consistency of the project activities and achieving the project goals and long term sustainability of the project results. Agreements were signed with stakeholders for the provision of data and the implementation of flow monitoring campaigns and Managed Aquifer Recharge demonstrations.

Project information

Lead

Alto Adriatico River Basin Authority

Partners

SGI Studio Galli Ingegneria; Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici - The project is co-financed by the Italian Ministry for Environment and Land and Sea.

Source of funding

LIFE Environment project