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Agricultural Use of Groundwater pp 35–75Cite as

Agricultural Impacts on Groundwater: Processes, Modelling and Decision Support

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Abstract

Agriculture, like other economic activities, can have negative impacts on the environment and on groundwater in particular, with consequences for human health as well as the environment (FAO, 1979, 1996). On the one hand, the use of groundwater by agriculture can cause quantitative resource depletion and qualitative deterioration due to overuse or misuse, such as encroaching saltwater and salinization in coastal areas. On the other hand, the recharge of aquifers with water leached out from cultivated fields can lead to water pollution by agrochemicals (fertilizers and pesticides). Of the many types of compounds that can contaminate soils and groundwaters, those most closely associated with agricultural practices, and whose impacts will be discussed in depth in this contribution, are nutrients, pesticides and salt.

In this chapter, the authors made the following contributions: A. Giacomelli — GIS aspects; C. Giupponi — agri-environmental science and decision support; C. Paniconi — hydrology and modelling.

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Authors
  1. Andrea Giacomelli
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  2. Carlo Giupponi
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  3. Claudio Paniconi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Padova, Italy

    Cesare Dosi

  2. Fondazione Eni E. Mattei, Italy

    Cesare Dosi

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Giacomelli, A., Giupponi, C., Paniconi, C. (2001). Agricultural Impacts on Groundwater: Processes, Modelling and Decision Support. In: Dosi, C. (eds) Agricultural Use of Groundwater. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) Series on Economics, Energy and Environment, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9781-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9781-4_3

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