Hydrogeological and vadose zone studies in the framework of the “Campania Trasparente” project (southern Italy).

The “Campania Trasparente” project is a system-wide action aimed at improving the public awareness on the environmental state of the Campania region. One of its primary objectives is to set-up new and synergistic efforts between researchers and public agencies, finalized to protect the region’s agricultural and livestock resources as well as food consumers by issuing appropriate environmental policies. The project is based on the analysis of the agricultural and zootechnical productions and its effects on primary environmental matrices (soil, water, and air) and epidemiological features. Some researchers of the University of Naples Federico II are involved in this project with the specific task to assess groundwater quality and aquifer vulnerability, allowing also for possible interactions between the vadose zone and shallow aquifers (Romano, 2014). The Campania region can be sketched in four principal hydrogeological frameworks (Allocca et al., 2007), with different groundwater quality and aquifer vulnerability: coastal and internal alluvial plains, with diffused anthropic pressures; Quaternary volcanic structures; Cenozoic flysch series, constituting hills in the interior part of the region and Mesozoic carbonate series, forming the main aquifers. In the alluvial plains, nitrate, manganese and iron are the most common groundwater contaminants. High iron and manganese concentrations occur naturally, but high nitrate levels indicate severe contamination due to human activities (Corniello & Ducci, 2014). Hydrochemical characteristics of the volcanic show the presence of arsenic and fluoride of natural origin (Ducci & Sellerino, 2012). The hydrogeological studies are mainly focused on the characterization of the Natural Background Levels (NBLs) for significant ions in all the groundwater bodies of the region and on the assessment of aquifer vulnerability at different scales. By means of the operational support of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno (IZSM), extensive groundwater sampling and analyses (over 750 samples) in monitoring wells of farms will be carried out over the entire Campania region, and focused in those more vulnerable and potentially polluted locations. References Allocca V., Celico F., Celico P., De Vita P., Fabbrocino S., Mattia S., Monacelli G., Musilli I., Piscopo V., Scalise A.R., Summa G. & Tranfaglia G. 2007. Illustrative Notes of the Hydrogeological Map of Southern Italy. Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca Stato, 1–211 (ISBN 88-448-0223-6), with enclosed three hydrogeological maps. Corniello A. & Ducci D. 2014. Hydrogeochemical characterization of the main aquifer of the “Litorale Domizio-Agro Aversano NIPS” (Campania-southern Italy). J. Geochem. Explor., 137, 1-10. Ducci D. & Sellerino M. 2012. Natural background levels for some ions in groundwater of the Campania region (southern Italy). Environ. Earth Sci. 67:683-693. Romano N. 2014. Soil moisture at local scale: Measurements and simulations. J. Hydrol., 516, 6-20.