Groundwater rebound and flooding in the Naples' periurban area (Italy)

Abstract

Groundwater bodies in the urbanized and densely populated aquifers or coastal floodplains may be subjected to groundwater rebound (GR), often causing serious risks of groundwater flooding (GF) to underground structures and infrastructures. This paper shows the results of a study carried out in the Naples' periurban area (Italy) to: investigate the dynamics and features of GR and GF phenomena, map flooded sites during 2013-2015 period, and provide an interpretative analysis of the factors that control the GF of private buildings and agricultural lands. At the municipality scale, since 1990 and until 2015, a remarkable and widespread GR was observed, with magnitude up to +16.54 m, triggering an unexpected GF of basements of buildings and agricultural soils. Field surveys proved that there is a time delay of the GF, ranging from 17 to 20 years, compared to the start of GR. Moreover, inhomogeneous distribution of flooding episodes is controlled by anthropogenic and natural factors. The obtained results are fundamental to design mitigation measures to GF hazard, and offer new perspectives to make Naples' periurban area more robust, smart and resilient against this new hydrogeological risk, undervalued by Italian legislation and local authorities.

The survey of Italian springs by the National Hydrographic Service, a forgotten database. Structuring and analysis of a dataset of Campania springs (southern Italy)

“…The alluvial and epiclastic aquifers (group b), formed by clastic deposits of talus, alluvial and coastal plains, are heterogeneous and anisotropic and their permeability is due to primary porosity (De Vita et al 2018). The peculiarity of these aquifers is the shallowness of water table which has favored the intense overexploitation by wells for agricultural and industrial uses (Coda et al 2019;Allocca et al 2021). The widespread cultivation practices coupled with the high anthropogenic pressure, make the (b) group highly vulnerable to pollution (Cusano et al 2019;Fusco et al 2020).…”

Holistic tool for ecosystem services and disservices assessment in the urban forests of the Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples

“…Some ES were chosen to model atmospheric and climate regulation. In addition, we chose to model avoided runoff since Naples has experienced a strong and often uncontrolled urbanization from 1943 to 2015, which grew up to 67.2% at the municipality scale 4 , 25 , resulting in a large number of strategic assets potentially affected by flooding 26 . Also, the pollen related ED was assessed since Naples area is well-known to be affected by important pollen issue and related human health diseases 27 , 28 .…”

Researching and managing flooding in the urban context

“…The flood risk research community has evolved to pioneer consideration of a much wider range of flood types, and this Journal has been at the forefront of these advancements. As well as continuing to improve knowledge and insight into many aspects of the 'traditional' flood types mentioned above: fluvial and coastal; The Journal of Flood Risk Management now regularly publishes (and welcomes) research into other types of risk such as groundwater or surface water flooding (e.g., see amongst others Allocca et al, 2022;Birch et al, 2021;Fathy et al, 2021), which have become more mainstream within the flood risk research community. In this editorial, I specifically want to reflect on the concept of urban flood risk management, which continues to emerge as an important area of flood research and draw attention to several contributions to the current issue of this Journal (Volume 17, Issue 3, June 2024), which have focussed on urban flood risk.…”