Abstract
Alluvial plains represent hydrological systems where the aquifer and the associated stream network are in hydraulic communication. In many instances, the stream network is the primary factor controlling water table variability and groundwater circulation. When effective meteoric recharge is scarce, water inflows from the river allow for aquifer exploitation by pumping wells. In addition, the river affects the propagation of the cone of depression and may limit its expansion. The study aimed to characterize the groundwater circulation in the Benevento Plain (southern Italy), which is affected by anthropogenic stresses due to pumping and aquifer-river interactions. To this end, we combined several methods to maximize the information achievable from hydrological monitoring, involving time series analysis and analytical models. We employed cross-correlation and time series processing to assess whether river flow variability could explain the observed water table variability. We also performed numerical simulations to investigate the specific contributions of aquifer-river interactions, effective meteoric recharge, and pumping to groundwater circulation. The simulations showed that the pumped groundwater comes partially from the river and that the latter represents a strong hydrological boundary, which limits the expansion of the cone of depression induced by wells. Analyses highlighted that the river controls groundwater variability and circulation in the Benevento Plain, while meteoric recharge has a negligible role. These findings are crucial for managing and protecting the local aquifer, which supplies water to one of the main inland areas of the southern Apennine, and they could be useful for other similar area worldwide.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmadi A, Chitsazan M, Mirzaee SY, Nadri A (2023) The effects of influence radius and drawdown cone on the areas related to the protection of water wells. J Hydrol 617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.129001
Amato V, Ciarcia S, Rossi A, Santoriello A (2017) The urban geoarchaeology of Benevento, Southern Italy: evaluating archaeological potential. Geoarchaeology 33:110–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21658
Anderson MP, Woessner W, Hunt RJ (2015) Applied Groundwater Modeling. Simulation of Flow and Advective Transport. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2009-0-21563-7
Astatkie T, Watt EW (1998) Multiple-input transfer function modeling of daily streamflow series using nonlinear inputs. Water Resour Res 34:2717–2725
Barthel R, Banzhaf S (2016) Groundwater and Surface Water Interaction at the Regional-scale – a review with Focus on Regional Integrated models. Water Resour Manage 30:1–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-015-1163-z
Baulon L, Massei N, Allier D, Fournier M, Bessiere H (2022) Influence of low-frequency variability on high and low groundwater levels: example of aquifers in the Paris Basin. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 26:2829–2854. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2829-2022
Box GE, Jenkins GM, Reinsel GC, Ljung GM (2016) Time Series analysis - forecasting and control. Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey
Brunner P, Therrien R, Renard P, Simmons CT, Frassen HJH (2017) Advances in understanding river-groundwater interactions. Rev Geophys 55:818–854. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017RG000556
Celico P, Conte F, Di Santo A, Luise G, Piscopo V (1998) L’acquifero alluvionale della Piana Di Benevento (Campania): un tipico esempio di serbatoio naturale di compenso a rischio inquinamento. Quad Geol Appl
Ciarcia S, Vitale S (2013) Sedimentology, stratigraphy and tectonics of evolving wedge-top depozone: Ariano basin, southern Apennines, Italy. Sediment Geol 290:27–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.02.015
Cousquer Y, Pryet A, Flipo N, Delbart C, Dupuy A (2017) Estimating River Conductance from prior information to improve surface-subsurface model calibration. Groundwater 55(3):408–418. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12492
Custodio E, Llamas MR (2005) Idrologia sotterranea. Dario Flaccovio Editore. Bologna, Italy
Di Ciacca A, Leterme B, Laloy E, Jacques D, Vanderborght J (2019) Scale-dependent parameterization of groundwater–surface water T interactions in a regional hydrogeological model. J Hydrol 576:494–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.06.072
Domenico PA, Schwartz FW (1997) Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology. Wiley, Singapore
Dupuit J (1863) Etudes Theoriques et pratiques sur le Mouvement des Eaux dans les canaux Decouverts et a Travers les terrains Permeables. Dunod, Paris, France
Duvert C, Jourde H, Raiber M, Cox ME (2015) Correlation and spectral analyses to assess the response of a shallow aquifer to low and high frequency rainfall fluctuations. J Hydrol 527:894–907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.05.054
Esposito L, Bruno R, De Paola PA, Aquino S (2005a) Hydrogeology and vulnerability of the alluvial aquifer of the Benevento Plain (Campania). Geologia Tecnica e Ambientale
Esposito L, Celico P, Guadagno FM, Aquino S, De Paola P (2005b) Hydrogeology of Sannio. L’Acqua
Fleming SW, Lavenue AM, Aly AH, Adams A (2002) Practical applications of spectral analysis to hydrologic time series. Hydrol Process 16:565–574. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.523
Hatch CE, Fisher AT, Revenaugh JS, Constantz J, Ruehl C (2006) Quantifying surface water–groundwater interactions using time series analysis of streambed thermal records: method development. Water Resour Res 42. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004787
Imagawa C, Takeuchi J, Kawachi T, Chono S, Ishida K (2013) Statistical analyses and modeling approaches to hydrodynamic characteristics in alluvial aquifer. Hydrol Process 26:4017–4027. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9538
ISPRA (2009) Carta Geologica d’Italia alla scala 1:50.000. Foglio 432 Benevento. https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/Media/carg/. Accessed 1 November 2023
Jenkins GM, Watts DG (1968) Spectral analysis and its application. Holden-Day, San Francisco, California
Johnson TC, Slater LD, Ntarlagiannis D, Day-Lewis FD, Elwaseif M (2012) Monitoring groundwater-surface water interaction using time-series and time-frequency analysis of transient three-dimensional electrical resistivity changes. Water Resour Res 48. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012WR011893
Kresic N (2010) Modeling. In: Kresic N, Stevanovic Z (eds) Groundwater Hydrology of springs: Engineering, Theory, Management, and sustainability. Elsevier, Butterworth-Heinemann, pp 165–230
Lin HT, Ke KY, Tan YC, Wu SC, Hsu G, Chen PC, Fang ST (2013) Estimating pumping rates and identifying potential recharge zones for Groundwater Management in Multi-aquifers System. Water Resour Manage 27:3293–3306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-013-0347-7
Magliulo P, Bozzi F, Leone G, Fiorillo F, Leone N, Russo F, Valente A (2021) Channel adjustments over 140 years in response to extreme floods and land-use change, Tammaro River, southern Italy. Geomorphology 383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.107715
Magliulo P, Sessa S, Cusano A, Beatrice M, Giannini A, Russo F (2022) Assessing the morphological quality of Calore River. Geographies 2(3):354–378. https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies2030023
Martínez-Santos P, Pedretti D, Martínez-Alfaro PE, Conde M, Casado M (2010) Modelling the effects of Groundwater-based urban supply in Low-Permeability aquifers: application to the Madrid Aquifer, Spain. Water Resour Manage 24:4613–4638. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-010-9682-0
McDonald MC, Harbaugh AW (1988) MODFLOW, a modular three-dimensional finite difference ground-water flow model. US Geol Surv. https://doi.org/10.3133/twri06A1
Mylopoulos N, Mylopoulos Y, Veranis N, Tolikas D (2007) Groundwater modeling and management in a complex lake-aquifer system. Water Resour Manage 21:469–494. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-006-9025-3
Omar PJ, Gaur S, Dwivedi SB, Dikshit PKS (2020) A Modular Three-Dimensional scenario-based Numerical Modelling of Groundwater Flow. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-020-02538-z. Water Resour Manage
Pagnozzi M, Coletta G, Leone G, Catani V, Esposito L, Fiorillo F (2020) A steady-state model to Simulate Groundwater Flow in Unconfined Aquifer. App Sci 10:2708. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082708
Revellino P, Guerriero L, Mascellaro N, Fiorillo F, Grelle G, Ruzza G, Guadagno FM (2019) Multiple effects of Intense Meteorological Events in the Benevento Province, Southern Italy. Water 1(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/w11081560
Senatore MR, Boscaino M, Pinto F (2019) The quaternary geology of the Benevento urban area (southern Italy) for seismic microzonation purposes. Ital J Geosci 138:66–87. https://doi.org/10.3301/IJG.2018.27
Servizio Idrografico e Mareografico Nazionale, Annali Idrologici. Roma, SIMN, Italia (1990) https://centrofunzionale.regione.campania.it/#/pages/documenti/annali. Accessed 1 November 2023
Terzaghi K, Peck RB, Mesri G (1996) Soil mechanics in engineering practice. Wiley, New York
Texier J, Gonçalvès J, Rivière A (2022) Numerical Assessment of Groundwater Flowpaths below a streambed in Alluvial Plains impacted by a Pumping Field. Water 14:1100. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14071100
Theis CV (1952) The relation between the lowering of the piezometric surface and the rate and duration of discharge of a well using ground water storage. US Geological Survey, Washington
Theodossiou N (2016) Assessing the impacts of Climate Change on the sustainability of Groundwater aquifers. Application in Moudania Aquifer in N. Greece Environ Process 3:1045–1061. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-016-0191-x
Thornthwaite CW, Mather JR (1957) Instructions and tables for computing potential evapotranspiration and the water balance. Publications Climatology 10(3)
Tügel F, Houben GJ, Graf T (2016) How appropriate is the Thiem equation for describing groundwater flow to actual wells? Hydrogeol J 24:2093–2101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-016-1457-0
Zhou P, Wang G, Mao H, Liao F, Shi Z, Huang H (2022) Numerical modeling for the temporal variations of the water interchange between groundwater and surface water in a regional great lake (Poyang Lake, China). J Hydrol 610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.127827
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank GESESA S.P.A. (Aqueduct of Benevento), which allowed the monitoring of piezometers and the Benevento Municipality for supporting the study.
Funding
This work was supported by Benevento Municipality.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Guido Leone performed time series and GIS analyses, numerical simulations, and curated data presentation. Michele Ginolfi contributed to field surveys, data collection and preparation, and numerical simulations. Libera Esposito conceptualized the numerical model and supervised the study. Francesco Fiorillo contributed to model conception and study supervision. All authors contributed to the first draft of the manuscript and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Leone, G., Ginolfi, M., Esposito, L. et al. Relationships between River and Groundwater Flow in an Alluvial Plain by Time Series Analysis and Numerical Modeling. Water Resour Manage 38, 2851–2868 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-024-03795-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-024-03795-y