Assessing and mapping ground water vulnerability to contamination – the Italian "combined" approach

Early in the eighties the Italian scientific community, together with institutional decision-makers, realized the urgency of protecting environmental resources. The VAZAR1 project was set up in 1984, as part of the GNDCI-CNR2 scientific context, Research Line, 4 “Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment”. Groundwater contamination was examined in this project. The Italian approach to assessing and mapping groundwater vulnerability to contamination is based on: a) the GNDCI Basic Method, a HCS type approach that can be used for any type of Italian hydrogeologic situation, even where there is a limited number of data. A unified legend and symbols are also defined for each hydrogeologic level. b) The SINTACS method, a PCSM developed for use prevalently in areas with a good data base coverage. The methodological approach described in this paper now makes up the Italian standard in Italian Law (152/993) ratified in the national guide lines produced by ANPA, the Italian National Agency for Environment Protection.