The experience of southern Apulia (Italy) coastal karst aquifer: Indications for the management

Prediction of the salt water intrusion in coastal karst aquifers is a key issue in several regions of the world. Southern Apulia (Italy) hosts a huge aquifer of karstified lime-stones, that provides 90% of the water demand of this sub-region. The exploitation of the aquifer currently exceeds its natural recharge capacity. The groundwater in wide coastal areas of the sub-region underwent an increase of the salt content. Salinization of the groundwater in such an aquifer cannot be predicted by means of conventional models. An effective model for a quantitative prediction of the fluid flow and transport of solute in the aquifer, aimed at a better understanding of the phenomenon, is therefore needed. This model should account for the discrete nature of the aquifer. In this paper, several situations are reported in order to describe the importance of the inhomogeneities (fracture systems, fault zones, karst conduit, preferential flow levels) in the salinization process of the southern Apulia karst aquifer