Long-term groundwater dynamics in the coastal confined aquifers of Venice (Italy)

A more than 40-year monitoring effort has allowed assessment of the long-term evolution of the piezometric levels in the coastal multi-aquifer system of Venice, Italy. We collected, homogenized, and analyzed piezometric data recorded since the early 1970s in wells almost homogeneously distributed in the lagoon area and the adjacent inland. Both the long-term yearly trend and the seasonal evolution of the hydraulic heads of the main artesian aquifers were investigated. It has been observed that the recovering of the water levels has continued over the last decades in the zones affected by aquifer overexploitation mainly during the 1960s. However, the records show that, up till now, the water levels have not grown to the natural values measured in the beginning of the past century. The superposition of a few factors accounts for this. First, the groundwater withdrawals resumed since the 1990s in some areas; then, a reduction of the natural aquifer recharge due to climatic variations. Lastly, the leakage from approximately 400 deep abandoned boreholes in the industrial area, improperly plugged in the 1970s, that are likely to be preferential conduits for groundwater flow toward the shallowest phreatic aquifers.