In 2021-23, northern Italy suffered a severe drought due to the absence of rainfall, which strongly affected the pre-alpine lake levels, affecting energy production, agriculture and sustainable river flows. This led to harsh consequences on agriculture, which in the Lombardy region almost completely relied on flooding irrigation methods using water from lakes through Ticino and Adda rivers. As part of the INTERREG Central- Europe project “MAURICE”, which focuses on Integrated Water Resources Management, the winter irrigation practice is proposed as a climate change adaptation strategy. The main project idea is to store surface water in aquifers in periods of exceedance (autumn/winter) using the very dense channels irrigation network as a “natural” infiltration system. The underground storage would increase the groundwater levels, bringing two main advantages during the spring/summer seasons: a good flow rate at plain springs and, in periods of water scarcity, the possibility to extract groundwater for agricultural purposes. Relying on the slow groundwater velocity (about 350 m/y), this practice keeps water stored in the subsoil just below the irrigated areas where the water is needed.
In the early project stage, a basin-scale numerical model is presented to test the potentiality of such practice. A specified water volume was distributed on the crop fields during the winter period, and the effects of such managed recharge were evaluated, also considering the possible problems deriving from the groundwater levels increase. The model demonstrates the adaptation measure feasibility, which will be tested at a field scale in a Pilot Area.