Hydrogeological Monitoring for Assessing Spring Discharge Variability: Case Studies from the Aosta Valley

The sustainable management of mountain water resources is increasingly challenged by climate change, land use modifications, and evolving water demand patterns. These factors influence precipitation regimes, groundwater recharge processes, and seasonal water availability, affecting both the quantity and quality of stored groundwater resources. Consequently, understanding how groundwater storage mechanisms are changing has become crucial for predicting future water availability scenarios in such areas. To achieve this, new automated tools and standardized approaches must be applied to continuously monitor hydrogeological variables that affect the spring recharge system. Since 2019, within the framework of the RESERVAQUA project (Interreg V-A Italy-Switzerland Cooperation Program), the Applied Geology Research Group at Politecnico di Torino has been conducting extensive spring monitoring activities in the Aosta Valley Region (northwestern Italy). Data collected from multiparametric water probes, which record water level, temperature, and electrical conductivity values at hourly intervals, have been analyzed to estimate discharge volumes in selected alpine springs over multiple hydrogeological years. Temporal variations in these parameters for the Cheserod, Entrebin, Gabiet, Mascognaz, Promiod, and Promise springs have been examined, providing insights into how recharge and discharge mechanisms are evolving under changing environmental conditions. To perform this analysis, a new software tool, SOURCE (a semi-automatic tool for Spring mOnitoring data analysis and aqUifeR CharactErization), was developed and applied. SOURCE enables the automated hydrogeological characterization of spring aquifers by processing input data from springs and associated meteorological stations. These data, uploaded into a formatted Excel file, are processed to generate graphical outputs and compute key hydrodynamic parameters of the studied aquifers.