Hydrogeological Modelling and Water Safety Plans: Basic Knowledge for the Protection of the Resource

Recent regulatory developments (DM 14.06.2017) have introduced the concept of Water Safety Plans (WSP) into the Italian legislative framework, a new, challenging paradigm of risk assessment, prevention, and control covering the entire drinking water supply chain. When applied to the water abstraction step, it requires complex data collection and processing, field survey, monitoring, and research in order to develop a robust and scientifically sound hydrogeological conceptual model, being the core of groundwater flow models and vulnerability assessments. A successful experience in identifying and characterizing the wellhead protection areas, as well as the vulnerability pattern, has been achieved for the wide and complex hydrogeological system belonging to the Vicenza water production area.