Application Of A Geolithologic Model For The Management Of Groundwater Quality In The Coastal Area Of Salento (Italy)

For the study area, that runs along the Adriatic coast of Salento Peninsula (Apulia, South-Italy), betweenthe towns of Melendugno and Otranto, the widespread saline contamination of the deep aquifer, imposes the adequateevaluation of the exploitation modalities of the multi-stratum shallow aquifer. In fact the high conductivity of thecretaceous calcareous basement, where groundwater flows through fractures and karstic conduits, combined to anuncontrolled overexploitation of this resource, has caused, during the last fifty years, a progressive contamination,implying the achievement, in some areas, of so high levels of salinity to be incompatible with its use for irrigation.On the contrary the shallow aquifer, constituted by post–Mesozoic deposits, results actually subject to few and localcontamination phenomena.The carried out study achieved the objective to analyze the quali-quantitative conditions of the upper aquifer, thehydrogeologic flow dynamics and the possible contaminative interaction of the deep with the upper aquifer, favored,in same cases, by the presence of numerous faults. All the elaborated information constitutes the basis for thedefinition of the conceptual model that permits to point out the conditions of vulnerability of the shallow aquifer and,thus, to determine correct modalities for its management.