Assessment of vulnerability to pollution and seawater intrusion of groundwater in the anthropized reclamation area of Arborea (W. Sardinia)

The phenomenon of seawater intrusion is one of the major problems in Sardinian coastal aquifers (Italy). In particular, it has been detected in the reclamation area of Arborea plain (west Sardinia) where intensive agriculture and dairy farming are the mainstays of the local economy. In this research SINTACS and GALDIT vulnerability indexes and the numerical model for simulating groundwater flow have been applied for evaluating respectively the intrinsic vulnerability to pollution, seawater intrusion and groundwater flow for a typical Mediterranean phreatic sandy aquifer such as Arborea plain aquifer. This research may offer a valuable contribution to the team of existing tools in the field of seawater intrusion and groundwater quality modelling.