Val di Cornia NEXUS Ecosystem Laboratory (Tuscany, Italy)

Project Overview

The proposed demonstration site is seated within the Cornia River Mediterranean basin, being the Cornia River and its ecosystem the main hydrological feature. It also includes a rural area with a number of rural municipalities (Campiglia Marittima, Suvereto, Piombino). It also includes the Orti di Bottagone wetland, home for a number of birds (including flamingos). In the plain part of the watershed, the aquifer plays a major role providing the main source of water for human activities and the ecosystems. Very relevant is the interplay between surface water and groundwater, including seawater, being seawater intrusion a main issue in the area.

Conserve Process NO

Enhance Process YES

Apply Complementary YES

Ecosystem Services

Provisioning

Provisioning Services are ecosystem services that describe the material or energy outputs from ecosystems. They include food, water and other resources.
Fresh water: Ecosystems play a vital role in the global hydrological cycle, as they regulate the flow and purification of water. Vegetation and forests influence the quantity of water available locally.

Regulating

Regulating Services are the services that ecosystems provide by acting as regulators eg. regulating the quality of air and soil or by providing flood and disease control.
Waste-water treatment: Ecosystems such as wetlands filter both human and animal waste and act as a natural buffer to the surrounding environment. Through the biological activity of microorganisms in the soil, most waste is broken down. Thereby pathogens (disease causing microbes) are eliminated, and the level of nutrients and pollution is reduced.

Habitat / Supporting

Ecosystem services "that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services". These include services such as nutrient recycling, primary production and soil formation.

Cultural

Cultural Services corresponds nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences.

Major Issues

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No issues provided.

EH Engineering Solutions

Water is a distinctive element in the

Water is a distinctive element in the area. It is the main engine for the local rural economy. However, the area is set in potentially scarcity conditions, and geogenic alteration of groundwater quality complicates water resources management – giving rise to conflicts for water use. A wide range of waterworks were built in the last 50 years, and recently, to achieve sustainable water management.

The Orti Bottagone area is a WWF

The Orti Bottagone area is a WWF Oasis on the Follonica Gulf, a precious legacy of the past extensive coastal swamps of the lower Val di Cornia, which most disappeared as a result of land reclamation. The Oasis, 126 ha, is a RAMSAR area in the Municipality of Piombino. The Oasis is home for a large variety of birds among which flamingos. Maintenance of surface water and groundwater dependent ecosystems and biodiversity losses is an issue.

Project Activities

* Understanding the evolution of the riverine ecosystem in time upon river restoration works. This action aims at providing long-term data on the evolution of morphologically restored Mediterranean riverine environments during years after restoration works took place.
* Demonstrate the potential for low-cost, eco-friendly nature-based solutions in tackling water demand and climate change. The number of nature-based solutionsin place in few Kms provide one unicum for verification of the efficiency of ecotechnologies in tackling water resources management issues and environmental sustainability. * Understanding the relationships and evolution between surface-water, ground-water and the adjoining ecosystems. Water resources management is traditionally focused on the physico-chemical aspects, while there is a huge need for understanding the impacts these two domain exert on the biological component. * Designing and testing nature-based water retention systems in the secondary drainage system. Water retention in the secondary drainage system may support water needs by the agricultural sector and also aquatic life in the most stressed period in summer time.

Expected Outcomes

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Latest Results

No results provided yet.

Ecohydrology Principles and Solutions

Hydrological Quantification

Quantification of the hydrological processes at catchment scale and mapping the impacts

Ecological Identification

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Ecological Engineering & Nature-based Solutions

Water is a distinctive element in the area. It is the main engine for the local rural economy. However, the area is set in potentially scarcity conditions, and geogenic alteration of groundwater quality complicates water resources management – giving rise to conflicts for water use. A wide range of waterworks were built in the last 50 years, and recently, to achieve sustainable water management. | The Orti Bottagone area is a WWF Oasis on the Follonica Gulf, a precious legacy of the past extensive coastal swamps of the lower Val di Cornia, which most disappeared as a result of land reclamation. The Oasis, 126 ha, is a RAMSAR area in the Municipality of Piombino. The Oasis is home for a large variety of birds among which flamingos. Maintenance of surface water and groundwater dependent ecosystems and biodiversity losses is an issue.

Objectives

EH Objectives

Water 4/5

Biodiversity 4/5

Services 4/5

Resilience 3/5

Cultural Heritage 0/5

Project Objectives

Besides decreasing population and the lack of water resources, main weaknesses in the area may be listed as: i) low-paid jobs in the agricultural sector 1. Main strength of the area may be listed as: i) a recognized role on technological innovation 2. stakeholders willing to explore new options 3. spreading of renewable energy is on the way 4. a running and strong agricultural product chain along with the development of cooperatives to guarantee larger rewards for the agricultural production. Education facilities(forresident population aged between 3 and 19) are well below the regional average of 0.70% for Tuscany. This shows a lack of educational services to be offered to the young population. All water related issues are regulated by the Water Framework Directive, the Groundwater Directive, the Flood Directive, the Nitrates Directive. The River Cornia Contract, signed in July 2022 by a large variety of stakeholders in the area, can be defined as an act of shared commitment by various public and private entities in various capacities interested in waterways which through the identification of a common vision and methods of work and sustainable economic action of the river system.

Key Stakeholders

University of Florence University of Pisa The Italian National Research Center Colleagues from EU institution have been running joint research in the area (i.e. UFZ and TU Darmstadt, Germany) Regione Toscana (the federal authority for theTuscany region) the Municipalities of Campiglia Marittima, Suvereto, and Piombino. These three municipalities actively contributed to the EU LIFE REWAT project by co-financing demonstration activities WWF and Legambiente actively participated in the Cornia River Contract participatory process. ASA spa

Methodology

The river restoration works and managed aquifer recharge scheme helps rebalancing the water budget in the area. The domain insists in a typical Mediterranean environment, with a wide diversity in terms of flora and fauna. Mammalian on top of the ecological chain (wolves) are widespread. The nature-based solutions in the area provide the following ecosystem services:
* regulation of water flows related to floods and droughts (surface water and groundwater)
* water retention (increasing groundwater storage)
* water purification (reduction of Arsenic concentrations)
* climate change mitigation (by increasing green areas and riverine vegetation areas reducing air temperature)
* recreational (the Cornia river contract also foresees riverine corridors for the citizens to actively live the river)