CNR IRSA’s Role in UNIVERSWATER: Advancing Irrigation Water Quality and Management at Torre Guaceto
CNR IRSA is the main Italian research institution dealing with all aspects of freshwater management, technologies, and quality assessment. The role of CNR IRSA in Universwater is mainly related to the organisation of the testing activities at the experimental site of Torre Guaceto, where irrigation water quality and its effects on local crops (grapes, horticulture, olives) will be monitored and assessed in cooperation with the other resident partners. The final aim is to develop tools for decision support in irrigation management.
In this region, limited water availability due to geomorphological reasons and the effects of climate change are causing increasing constraints on agricultural practices. The overexploitation of groundwater resources results in seawater intrusion into the coastal aquifer and consequent salinization of the main water resource available for irrigation. Within the Universwater project, an array of different tools will be implemented to monitor the quality of two different sources of water available, the effluent of a local municipal wastewater treatment plant and the groundwater conventionally used.
CNR IRSA participates in Universwater with an interdisciplinary team of scientists having different backgrounds and expertise, in order to contribute to the:
- chemical, physical, and microbiological assessment of water quality (Dr. Biol. Carlo Salerno),
- geophysical estimation of soil water content and salinity over the root zone (Dr. Geol. Lorenzo De Carlo),
- ground truth tests for calibration of the geophysical measurements and the sensors data (Dr. Geol. Maria C. Caputo),
- modelling and integration of hydroclimatic information within the decision support tool (Dr. Eng. Ivan Portoghese),
- overall organization of the activities at the demo site and interactions among local partners (Dr. Eng. Alfieri Pollice).
