Aquifer observatory: Ferrara is “recharging”

The Anbi-Cer Campus Groundwater Observatory (Emiliano Romagnolo Canal) confirms that the recent rains have recharged the aquifers and the accumulated deficit compared to 2022. In fact, the western provinces are doing well, including Ferrara which recovers 35cm of groundwater depth: – 191 cm in the drought of 2022 and -156 cm depth in 2024. These are updated data and historical data on the conditions of the hypodermic aquifer, i.e. that most superficial part of the aquifer (also called “phreatic”) which is confirmed as essential for the production activities of agricultural businesses in the area and for the overall management of the hydrological balances useful for irrigation managed by the reclamation consortia associated with Anbi Emilia Romagna.

The drastic reversal of the trend, especially compared to 2022, “annus horribilis”, characterized by prolonged drought throughout the country, but especially in the Po Valley (an area with high vocation and productivity for the primary sector) has given way to a significant “recharge” of the aquifers themselves by virtue of the abundant rainfall that fell in an atypical May, decidedly rainier than the historical average even if among the warmest from 1950 to today. The analytical comparison between the individual provinces of the Emilia-Romagna region clearly shows the trend which however presents a clear anomaly in the Romagna area, in this case in the province of Forli-Cesena, where the levels of water scarcity recorded today are even lower than in driest year ever (-2.47 meters in 2024 versus -2.28 meters in 2022).

Coming then to the analysis of the data that has recently emerged, there are no excessive changes compared to two weeks ago. Substantially, the hypodermic groundwater levels are aligned with or higher than those of the historical one in the western part of the plain, while they are lower in the eastern part. The line of separation between these two different trends is to be placed between the provinces of Modena and Bologna. The eastern part of the region, however, continues to remain below the threshold of -200 cm, although without significant variations compared to the last survey (from -204 cm to -202 cm from the pc to Ravenna; from -243 cm to -247 cm from the pc in Forlì-Cesena).

In the province of Bologna the average groundwater level continues to fall, going from -225 cm to -247 cm from the pc. The three provinces mentioned above are, obviously, also those in which the negative variation in groundwater level, compared to the historical average, is highest. In Ravenna and Forlì-Cesena the variation is respectively -27% and -28%, while Bologna achieves the negative record of -54%. All the other provinces present limited deficits (Parma -3% and Ferrara -11%) or a relative surplus (Reggio Emilia +2%, Piacenza +7%, up to Modena with +32%). In conclusion, the rainfall that has fallen in the western plain, between Piacenza and Modena since January, has now recorded overall heights of around 500 mm, while in the eastern plain and in particular in Romagna, it stands at around half of these values ​​( 250 mm overall measured in the Ponte Braldo – Forlì-Cesena rain gauge station).

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