Extraction of Drained Waters from Instable Areas for Minor Agricultural Uses

Abstract

Water resources of low potential, generally associated with low permeability soils, are of considerable interest especially in many Italian bad lands. Their extraction and use are very important for the following reasons:

• these resources are usually associated with instable areas and in the majority of the cases they are responsible for the instability. So drainage may be the most important system for the reclamation of these areas.

• although modest, these resources may be of interest for small local agricultural use.

• they may be utilized at a reasonable cost even in extremely peripheral areas, not easily reached by the energy supply.

In the paper the characteristics of low permeability aquifer systems, will be examined and described. The advantages of the improvement of the stability of the slopes in these areas after drainage will be highlighted.

Finally the usefulness of the exploitation of aeolic energy for the withdrawing of drained waters using new technology, will be demonstrated. The climatic zone of these areas assures the availability of wind resources for most of the year and particularly during bad weather seasons.