Sustainable karst groundwater management in a semiarid region: the case of Su Gologone spring (Sardinia, Italy)

The Su Gologone karst spring has been recently investigated to assess how the karst aquifer would react in possible different meteorological conditions. The aim of the project is to develop a flexible and appropriate approach for its karst groundwater exploitation both taking into account the special features of the Supramonte karst landscape and without affecting the quality and quantity of the resource. For this purpose, the spring water level was continuously measured while flow rates were performed monthly. From 1-year monitoring, a high discharge variance and an impulsive behaviour to recharge input was detected indicating the presence of a transmissive drainage network with high hydraulic conductivity. The storage capacity associated to the low-conductive fracture system is still unknown. On the basis of these results, a new setup of the pumping facility together with a flexible management of water withdrawal is proposed, allowing the change of the quantity of exploited groundwater depending on the hydro-meteorological conditions.