Evaluating the Potential of Quarry Lakes for Supplemental Irrigation
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 8
Abstract
Population growth coupled with industrialization, increasing effects of climate change, and increasingly stringent water management regulations regarding the conservation of aquatic life are resulting in previously unknown agricultural water shortages in Padana Valley, Italy. To mitigate water shortage, it was recently proposed to use the water stored into numerous quarries of gravel material. Because quarry lakes are mostly located in the proximity of watercourses, aquifer drawdown induced by pumping can affect flow in nearby streams. The evaluation of the potential of quarry lakes for supplemental irrigation has to face stream depletion that is crucial from the perspective of the legal rights of the downstream users and ecosystem sustainability. The work presented in this paper investigates the potential of a quarry lake in Padana Valley to sustain irrigated crop water requirement during shortage periods. A simple and quite inexpensive technique for assessing streambed conductance based on streambed temperature measurements is presented. The results show that quarry lakes may be a promising alternative resource for supplemental irrigation during shortage periods, even when a watercourse is present in the surrounding area.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported in the framework of the project “Assessment of the potential of water resource available in the quarry lakes in the Province of Cremona” funded by Fondazione Cariplo. The writers thank “Consorzio delle Utenze Irrigue”, “Coldiretti”, “Provincia di Cremona”, and “Consorzio Adda Serio” for the help in performing pumping experiment and Cava Isolotto Erfini Teresa, the owner of the quarry ATE g4, for giving permission. The writers thank ARPA Regione Lombardia for providing the meteorological data used in the case studied and logistic support. The helpful comments of two anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 8 • August 2011
Pages: 564 - 571
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 11, 2010
Accepted: Nov 1, 2010
Published online: Nov 3, 2010
Published in print: Aug 1, 2011
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