Because of the spatial nature of groundwater-related data and their time component, effective groundwater management requires the application of methods pertaining to the Information and Communication Technologies sector, such as spatial data management and distributed numerical modelling. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the QGIS-integrated FREEWAT platform and an approach combining spatial data management and numerical models to target groundwater management issues. FREEWAT is a free and open source platform integrated in a Geographic Information System environment and embedding tools for pre- and post-processing of spatial data and integrating numerical codes for the simulation of the hydrological cycle, with a main focus on groundwater. To this aim, this paper briefly presents the FREEWAT platform, introduces the FREEWAT approach, and showcases 13 case studies in European and non-European countries where the FREEWAT platform was applied. Application of the FREEWAT platform to real-world case studies is presented for targeting management of coastal aquifers, ground- and surface-water interaction, climate change impacts, management of transboundary aquifers, rural water management and protection of groundwater-dependent ecosystems. In this sense, compared to other existing software suites, FREEWAT allows data analysis and visualization to accomplish each step of the modelling workflow, i.e., from data analytics, to conceptual model definition, to numerical modelling and reporting of results. The presented experiences demonstrate that improved access to data and the portability of models and models’ results can help to promote water sustainability from the local- to the basin-scale. Furthermore, FREEWAT may represent a valuable tool to target the objective of increasing the capabilities of public authorities and private companies to manage groundwater resources by means of up-to-date, robust, well-documented and reliable software, without entailing the need of costly licensing, nowadays seldom affordable by public water authorities. Based on the strengths highlighted, the FREEWAT platform is a powerful tool for groundwater resources management, and for data collection, sharing, implementation and comparison of scenarios, for supporting planning and decision-making.

While ensuring adequate drinking water supply is increasingly being a worldwide challenging need, managed aquifer recharge (MAR) schemes may provide reliable solutions in order to guarantee safe and continuous supply of water. This is particularly true in riverbank filtration (RBF) schemes. Several studies aimed at addressing the treatment capabilities of such schemes, but induced aquifer recharge hydrodynamics from surface water bodies caused by pumping wells is seldom analysed and quantified. In this study, after presenting a detailed description of the Serchio River RBF site, we used a multidisciplinary approach entailing hydrodynamics, hydrochemical, and numerical modelling methods in order to evaluate the change in recharge from the Serchio river to the aquifer due to the building of the RBF infrastructures along the Serchio river (Lucca, Italy). In this way, we estimated the increase in aquifer recharge and the ratio of bank filtrate to ambient groundwater abstracted at such RBF scheme. Results highlight that in present conditions the main source of the RBF pumping wells is the Serchio River water and that the groundwater at the Sant’Alessio plain is mainly characterized by mixing between precipitation occurring in the higher part of the plain and the River water. Based on chemical mixing, a precautionary amount of abstracted Serchio River water is estimated to be on average 13.6 Mm³/year, which is 85% of the total amount of water abstracted in a year (~16 Mm³). RBF is a worldwide recognized MAR technique for supplying good quality and reliable amount of water. As in several cases and countries the induced recharge component is not duly acknowledged, the authors suggest including the term “induced” in the definition of this type of MAR technique (to become then IRBF). Thus, clear reference may be made to the fact that the bank filtration is not completely due to natural recharge, as in many cases of surface water/groundwater interactions, but it may be partly/almost all human-made.

Article impact statement : free and open source tools to boost application and usage of surface−/groundwater models for effective water resource management.