Improving the resilience to drought of the Apulian water resources system – an hydroeconomic model

The paper presents a hydro-economic model of the Apulian water resources system, in southern Italy, i.e. a mathematical programming model of the allocations explicitly accounting for the different values of water and for hydrological variability at the appropriate time scale. Traditionally a water-scarce region, Apulia is now supplied by extra-regional regulated surface resources as well as by a coastal aquifer; altogether, they constitute a multipurpose system with conflicting uses: municipal, irrigation and, to a lesser extent, industrial supply. The system is at present affected by high streamflow variability and by a high level of water losses along the urban distribution networks. In the model, the variability of surface water resources is accounted for by a 30-yrs. time series of seasonal streamflow into the reservoirs. The model provides the means to assess the effectiveness of different supply and demand side measures to improve the regional water balance and reduce drought impac