Hydrofacies reconstruction of glaciofluvial aquifers and groundwater flow modelling in a densely urbanized area under changing climatic conditions

Abstract

Abstract. Potential impacts of global climate changes on the groundwater are largely unknown, especially for densely populated areas where groundwater is heavily exploited for public and industrial supply. Hence, to better plan and manage the 10 groundwater resources, medium-long term numerical modelling of groundwater flow, which takes into account climate change, population growth, and industrial and agricultural activities, is needed. The objective of this paper is to tackle three main issues: (1) the development of a robust hydro-stratigraphic model of a multi-aquifer system from a well logs database by means of a novel multi-dimensional approach which includes a hierarchical classification of the lithologies, the interpretation of crosssections, and the interpolation of aquifer boundary surfaces; (2) the parametrization and calibration of both a steady state and 15 a transient groundwater flow model, starting from empirical relationships (for unconfined aquifer) and step-drawdown and well tests (for semi-confined and confined aquifers) to define equivalent homogenous sub-units; and (3)