Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction in the Nera River Basin (Central Italy): New Insights after the 2016 Seismic Sequence

The highest part of the Nera River basin (Central Italy) hosts significant water resources for drinking, hydroelectric, and aquaculture purposes. river is fed by fractured large carbonate aquifers interconnected Jurassic Quaternary normal faults in an area characterized high seismicity. 30 October 2016, seismic sequence Central Italy produced abrupt increase discharge, which lasted several months. analysis recession curves well documented processes occurring within basal aquifer feeding River. In detail, a straight line has described discharge during two years after 2016 sequence, indicating that turbulent flow emptying process hydrogeological system. A permeability enhancement River—due to cleaning fractures co-seismic fracturing recharge area—coupled with groundwater velocity can explain this process. most recent (2019 2020 periods) fit very pre-seismic ones, from mainshock, recovered same pre-earthquake conditions (laminar flow). This behavior makes system less vulnerable prolonged droughts, frequency length are increasingly affecting Apennine Italy.