Vulnerability of Mountain Springs Affect by Climatic Change: A New Method in a Porous Media Aquifer in Regione Automa Valle d’Aosta

The springs in the mountains region are a strategic resource for the local inhabitants. Moreover these resources are particularly sensitive to climatic changes (CC), as documented by spatial-temporal discharge measurements. In order to assess their vulnerability in relation to climate changes and test different methods usually applied in karst environment, in a porous and shallow aquifers a probe was installed in several mountain springs sites in SW Alps in the Aosta Valley region (Italy). The first part of the study was estimate the spring vulnerability. Therefore, we had chosen to calculate it using the VESPA Index and verify this result with the application of time series analysis. The aim of second part is to define a value of spring vulnerability that is more reliable with the hypothesis deriving from the results given from the time series analysis. So a new approach that combine the results given from the application of the VESPA index and the time series analysis was define. Finally an evaluation of how the climatic variations affect the vulnerability assessment obtained with the method was made. This new approach aim to supports the efforts of authorities in developing efficient strategies for a sustainable groundwater resources management.