Vulnerability of the aquifer system: considerations on a methodological approach

The protection of groundwater, now exposed to contamination and over-exploitation in the industrialised world, is one of the major issues in modern groundwater resource planning. In particular, in the semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean basin, for a better management and protection of the water resources, it is very important the assessment and the mapping of groundwater vulnerability to contamination. In this paper, we present the result and the problem relative to realization of vulnerability maps in different geologicalhydrogeological and human-pressure conditions. Firstly, in order to define the conceptual hydrogeological model of the area, geological, stratigraphic, geomorfological, hydrological and hydrogeological data are collected and elaborated. Secondly, by using the most suitable method for the local hydrogeological condition, among those available from the literature, the created database is implemented in a GIS to estimate the intrinsic vulnerability of the aquifer systems.