A computer simulation of groundwater salinization risk in Salento peninsula (Italy).

The main source of water for civil purposes in Salento peninsula is the coastal karst aquifer. It is formed by Cretaceous units, essentially limestones and dolomitic limestones highly fractured and karstificated. The groundwater is intensively withdrawn and, as a consequence, the risk of contamination of existing wells due to salinization is high. In order to evaluate the level of such a risk, a procedure is proposed that, taking into account the essential features of the underground circulation like the principal conductive fractures and karstic conduicts, leads to a predictive model based on the generation by computer of artificial systems of fractures and conduicts. Very preliminary results are presented to show the capability of such a procedure.