Stream-aquifer interaction of a large Alpine river with heat-tracer methods and hydrological modeling

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Giovanni Ravazzani, Diego Curti, Marco Mancini, Renzo Rosso

Thursday 2 july 2015

11:45 - 12:00h at Oceania Foyer (level 0)

Themes: (T) Water resources and hydro informatics (WRHI), (ST) Surface and subsurface flow interactions

Parallel session: 11L. Water resources - Flow interactions

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The contribution of groundwater to streamflow in Alpine catchments is still poorly understood, despite it may heavily impact hydrological balance and stream habitats. This work presents the results of a field campaign based on heat tracer methods to assess the hyphoreic flow during low flow period of a large Alpine river in Italy. These measurements were employed to validate a distributed hydrological model that can be used to asses river-groundwater interaction in both low and high flow conditions. The results show that groundwater may have a relevant role during low flow period by increasing river discharge and during floods by subtracting direct runoff that is stored in river banks.