Harnessing Citizen Science to Monitor and Preserve Mountain Water Resources: the Acqua Sorgente project

Abstract ID: 3.12791 | Accepted as Talk | Talk | TBA | TBA

Matteo Nigro (1)
Lorenzo Bassi (1), Carlo Alberto Garzonio (1), Andrea Del Sarto (1), Giuseppe Priolo (1), Gian Carlo Nardi (1), Mario Vaccarella (1), Marco Barbieri (1), Sergio Peduzzi (1), Riccardo Bernasconi (1), Alessandra Pollo (1), Raffaele Marini (1), Elena Pilosu (1), Arianna Proserpio (1), Alessio Piccioli (1), Antonio Montani (1)
(1) Italian Alpine Club (CAI), Via Petrella 19, 20124, Milano, IT

Categories: Adaptation, Water Resources
Keywords: Mountain Water resources, Citizen Science, Water springs, Italian Alpine Club, Water awareness

Categories: Adaptation, Water Resources
Keywords: Mountain Water resources, Citizen Science, Water springs, Italian Alpine Club, Water awareness

A reliable and adequate water supply is key for mountain infrastructures and mountaineering activities. Water springs are the main source of water in mountain environments, providing access to groundwater. Unfortunately, modifications to the hydrological cycle induced by climate change are already causing a reduction in groundwater and connected spring flow. Further water resources reduction in mountain territories is expected in the future.
Adaptation to water resources reduction is then crucial for the infrastructures, like mountain huts, and for the outdoor community. The first and most important step in adaptation is the acquisition of additional data and knowledge about water resources and dissemination about the problem.
This is why in April 2024, the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) launched the Acqua Sorgente national Citizen Science project, with two main objectives:
i) Create and maintain an open-source national database of springs monitoring data.
ii) Foster community awareness on issues related to springs and water resources.
Through CAI-developed applications, all citizens can record spring information such as location, photographs, and flow rate; and electrical conductivity and temperature for trained volunteers.
The database already contains more than 1000 validated springs’ monitoring data from all the Italian territory. The data provides information of water availability along the trails. Also, based on these data, in depth hydrological analyses were developed with the support of research institutions and universities. The results are already contributing to water knowledge at the national scale. Additionally, multiple dissemination events and school-projects were organized to foster water awareness, particularly in the mountain territories.
In its first year, Acqua Sorgente proved: i) effectiveness of the mountaineering community in monitoring water springs; ii) effectiveness of water-awareness dissemination; iii) innovation potential of the collected data; iv) connection-cooperation capabilities.
It is time for the project to be scaled up to the European level. The applied method and workflow are scalable, as is the software infrastructure, which is entirely built on open-source code, ensuring full availability and functionality across the EU. European Alpine Clubs and Mountain Associations are invited to play a role in expanding the project, thanks to their wide membership and infrastructures.

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