Fulvio Celico

• Professor of Hydrogeology
• Managing Director at University of Parma

This research aimed to characterise hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria isolated from naturally hydrocarbon-contaminated springs and the surrounding soils in the Agri Valley (Southern Italy) and to assess the effectiveness of bioaugmentation using a four-strain microbial consortium for removing hydrocarbons from artificially diesel-contaminated lake water...

The impact of human activities and climate change on water systems is becoming severe [...]

This study investigates the distribution and mobility of metals and metalloids (M&Ms) in soils, rocks, and groundwater within the geologically complex southwestern region of Sicily. The study aims to highlight how natural sources, like rocks and soils, can release elements potentially harmful to human health. It underlines their dual role as both n...

Chlorinated organic compounds are Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) with high environmental continuity. These chemicals possess the ability to permeate into the environment across both unsaturated and saturated zones. This study examines the potential impact of perchloroethylene (PCE) releases in aquifer systems consisting of layers with varying...

The significance of the interconnection between water and energy, known as the water–energy (WE) nexus, is highly regarded in scientific publications. This study used a narrative review method to analyze the existing WE nexus studies performed before 2024 in 26 European countries. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the...

In recent years, there has been a surge in interest concerning emerging contaminants, also known as contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), due to their presence in environmental matrices. Despite lacking regulation, these chemicals pose potential health and environmental safety risks. Disodium EDTA, a widely utilized chelating agent, has raised c...

Recent years have seen an increase in the concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil and water, mainly due to accidents or human activities, with major ecological and public health implications. Various remediation techniques have been proposed and are in use for the reduction of oil contamination. Microbial remediation has emerged as a promis...

The water–energy–food (WEF) nexus is drawing much attention in scholarly literature as a novel alternative to address complex resources and achieve resource security. The aim of this study is to analyze and review existing nexus studies to investigate the current status of nexus research worldwide. This study used a narrative review approach to pro...

The occurrence of emerging pollutants (EPs) such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) has raised serious concerns about the possible adverse effects on ecosystem integrity and human health. Wastewater treatment facilities appear to be the main sources of PPCPs released in aquatic environments. This research examines the effectivene...

Chlorinated organic compounds widely contaminate aquifer systems worldwide (Doherty, 2000). They belong to the so-called DNAPLs (dense non-aqueous phase liquids), are denser than water, and have very low water solubility. Thus, they can migrate under pressure and gravity forces through the unsaturated and saturated porous medium until they reach a...

Groundwater is a vital ecosystem of the global water cycle, hosting unique biodiversity and providing essential services to societies. Despite being the largest unfrozen freshwater resource, in a period of depletion by extraction and pollution, groundwater environments have been repeatedly overlooked in global biodiversity conservation agendas. Dis...

In the last decades, the intensification of agricultural practices has deeply altered nitrogen (N) and water cycles. Climate change and drought events are expected to further increase the human impacts on the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, and these impacts are gaining the attention of the scientific community. Here we show how the Chiese...

Dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) are known to be denser than water and immiscible with other fluids. Once released into the environment, they migrate downward through the variably saturated zone, causing severe damage. For this reason, it is essential to properly develop a rapid response strategy, including predictions of contaminant migrati...

Chlorinated organic compounds are widespread aquifer contaminants. They are known to be dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). Therefore, they are denser than water and immiscible with other fluids. Their migration into the environment in variably saturated zones can cause severe damage. For this reason, optimizing those actions that minimize th...

The increase in oil production from petroleum reservoirs has led to studies examining the effects of these activities on groundwater quality. Oily wastewater associated with oil production is often reinjected through abandoned wells into the unproductive portions of the reservoir to avoid its discharge on the surface. The reinjection process is des...

Hydrogeological maps must synthesize scientific knowledge about the hydraulic features and the hydrogeological behavior of a specific area, and, at the same time, they must meet the expectations of land planners and administrators. Thus, hydrogeological maps can be fully effective when they are purpose-designed, especially in complex interconnected...

The contamination impact and the migration of the contaminant into the surrounding environment due to the presence of a spilled oil pipeline will cause significant damage to the natural ecosystem. For this reason, developing a rapid response strategy that might include accurate predictions of oil migration trajectories from numerical simulation mod...

Hydrogeological maps must synthesize the scientific knowledge about the hydraulic features and the hydrogeological behavior of a specific area, and, at the same time, they must meet the expectations of land planners and administrators. Thus, especially in complex interconnected systems, hydrogeological maps can be fully effective when they are purp...

The present work provides new insights on some factors controlling the groundwater flow in low-permeability media affected by deep Apennine landslide, involving several million cubic meters of soil and rock. Rainfall and groundwater circulation are among the major triggers of landslides. However, if the first factor is well studied, only few resear...

This paper shows a comparison between experiments carried out in a laboratory-scale sandbox where the migration of a dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL), hydrofluoroether (HFE-7100), in a saturated porous medium was investigated, and validation was performed using high-resolution shock-capturing numerical simulations to resolve the nonlinear gove...

The interaction between water, energy, and food as the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus has drawn much attention recently to solve upcoming uncertainty in food security. The aim of this study is to investigate the status of the WEF nexus in European countries. It is indicated that the largest nexus studies (among 27 European countries) have been condu...

Groundwater is a vital ecosystem of the global water cycle, hosting unique biodiversity and providing essential services to societies. Despite being the largest unfrozen freshwater resource, in a period of depletion by extraction and pollution, groundwater environments have been repeatedly overlooked in global biodiversity conservation agendas. Dis...

Urban areas exercise numerous and strong pressures on water bodies, implying that different external anthropogenic factors also stress groundwater. Sewerage networks play an important role, being the place of wastewater flow. When sewerage deterioration conditions occur, aquifers can be contaminated by contaminants contained within wastewater. The...

The assessment of groundwater abstraction is an important tool to ensure its sustainability and management. This study aims to assess the groundwater abstraction for irrigation during the hydrological year of 2016–2017, using GIS, and to compare it with the water abstraction estimated by the Tunisian water management authority. This land use map al...

The contamination impact and the migration of the contaminant into the surrounding environment due to the presence of a spilled oil pipeline will cause significant damage to the natural ecosystem. For this reason, it is decisive to develop a rapid response strategy that might include accurate predictions of oil migration trajectories from numerical...

Soil System Budgets (SSB) of nutrients are generally performed annually over arable land to infer their use efficiency and water pollution risk in highly exploited agricultural watersheds. They are seldom partitioned into seasonal budgets and matched with seasonal nutrient transport in adjacent river reaches. We calculated seasonal soil nitrogen (N...

PCDD/Fs (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans) and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are ubiquitous persistent pollutants with reduced bioavailability, which bioremediation using soil fauna is still managed to treat. This research set out to: (i) study the suitability of earthworms (Eisenia fetida), alone and associated with plants (Lepid...

Springs represent relevant habitats which support high levels of biodiversity and productivity, providing refugia to both plants and animals together with essential ecosystem services. However, springs are often overlooked or even destroyed by human activity. Locating, inventorying, and monitoring springs is, therefore, becoming of increasing impor...

Literature provides only a few examples of contamination of groundwater with microplastics, mainly investigated using a chemical approach. Little importance is given to the hydrogeological processes able to affect the contamination, such as river–groundwater interactions. This study was carried out with two aims. The first aim is the formulation of...

Chemical analyses are inadequate for assessing soil biological quality. Instead, the soil living community can be used both for monitoring and restoring soil health. The aim of this research was to verify vermiremediation efficiency in PCDD/F and PCB contaminated soils from Brescia-Caffaro (Italy), using an ecotoxicity approach. To gauge whether Ca...

Turbidite successions can behave either as aquitards or aquifers depending on their lithological and hydraulic features. In particular, post-depositional processes can increase rock permeability due to fracture development in the competent layers. Thus, at a local scale, turbidite systems warrant further detailed investigations, aimed at reconstruc...

Numerical modeling of the migration of three-phase immiscible fluid flow in variably saturated zones is challenging due to the different behavior of the system between unsaturated and saturated zones. This behavior results in the use of different numerical methods for the numerical simulation of the fluid flow depending on whether it is in the unsa...

Soil system budgets are generally performed aggregating annual nutrient inputs and outputs over arable land to infer their use efficiency and water pollution risk in watersheds with intensive agriculture and animal farming. They are seldom partitioned into seasonal budgets and matched with seasonal transport of nutrients in adjacent river reaches....

The Po Plain (northern Italy) is one of the largest aquifers in Europe, and 67% of the utilized agricultural land in this area is classified as a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ). However, it hosts intensive agriculture and livestock farming. In a stretch of the Mincio River (a tributary of the Po River), hydraulic heads and physico-chemical parameter...

Numerical modeling of the migration of a three-phase immiscible fluid flow in variably saturated zones is challenging due to the different behavior of the system between unsaturated and saturated zones. This results in the use of different numerical methods for the numerical simulation of the fluid flow depending on whether it is in the unsaturated...

The Hajeb Layoun-Jelma basin, located in the central Tunisia, is the principal source of water supply for Sidi Bouzid and Sfax region. The over-abstraction from this groundwater, since 1970, and the intensive agriculture activities led to the degradation of the water quantity and quality. The quality evaluation for this groundwater is very importan...

In the Po plain, intensive agriculture is supported by large irrigation volumes and use of fertilizers. We analysed the effects of different land uses in a sector of the Mincio River on groundwater hydrochemical characteristics and hypothesized local regulation of NO₃⁻ contamination. In the unconfined coarse-grained alluvial aquifer, hydraulic head...

The assessment of the groundwater quality is an important way to ensure its sustainability for various uses. In this study, the suitability of groundwater for irrigation and drinking uses was assessed by determining the water quality index, sodium adsorption ratio, electrical conductivity, Kelly’s ratio, and sodium percentage values of water sample...

One of the appropriate ways to prevent groundwater contamination is identifying the vulnerable areas of the aquifers. The DRASTIC framework, for assessing the intrinsic vulnerability of the aquifer, is a common method which uses a specific parameter’s weight and a uniform distributed contaminant in overall the aquifer. Therefore, it should be calib...

This Special Issue focuses on recent advances and future developments in the modeling (both conceptual and numerical) of flow and transport in karst aquifers [...]

Estimation of aquifer recharge is key to effective groundwater management and protection. In mountain hard-rock aquifers, the average annual discharge of a spring generally reflects the vertical aquifer recharge over the spring catchment. However, the determination of average annual spring discharge requires expensive and challenging field monitori...

Numerical modeling of immiscible contaminant fluid flow in unsaturated and saturated porous aquifers is of great importance in many scientific fields to properly manage groundwater resources. We present a high-resolution numerical model that simulates three-phase immiscible fluid flow in both unsaturated and saturated zone in a porous aquifer. We u...

Featured Application The research suggests an approach for refining the guidelines to be used in studying heterogeneous media and planning optimal monitoring networks and protocols for several anthropogenic purposes (e.g., environmental monitoring of landfills or contaminated sites managing). Abstract Knowledge about the hydrogeological behaviour...

In the northern sector of the Po River Plain (Italy), widespread intensive agriculture and animal farming are supported by large amounts of water from Alpine lakes and their emissaries. Flood irrigation and excess fertilization with manure affect both the hydrology and the chemical quality of surface and groundwater, resulting in diffuse nitrogen p...

Hydrocarbon pollution threatens aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems globally, but soil fauna in oil-polluted soils has been insufficiently studied. In this research, soil hydrocarbon toxicity was investigated in two natural oil seepage soils in Val D’Agri (Italy) using two different approaches: (i) toxicological tests with Folsomia candida (Collembo...

Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination (PHC) is an issue of major concern worldwide. These compounds represent the most common environmental pollutants and their cleaning up is mandatory. The main goal of this research was to analyze microbial communities in a site in southern Italy characterized by the presence of hydrocarbons of natural origin by us...

Large earth slides and rocks lides evolving into earth flows are quite widespread in the Northern Italian Apennines. Despite being simply referred to as landslides, many of them are, in fact, large complexes of landslides. They evolved through multiple and/or successive movements, undergoing partial and/or total reactivations. The reactivation of p...

Knowledge about the processes governing subsurface microbial dynamics in and to groundwater represents an important tool for the development of robust, evidence-based policies and strategies to assess the potential impact of contamination sources and for the implementation of appropriate land use and management practices. In this research, we asses...

The studies upstream of the petroleum industry include oil and gas geological exploration and are usually focused on geological, structural, geophysical, and modeling techniques. In this research, the application of a coupled microbiological–isotopic approach was explored to assess its potential as an adequate characterization and monitoring tool o...

We investigate the long-distance salinity in a dual permeability coastal karst aquifer with a double conduit network using a three-dimensional variable-density groundwater flow and multispecies transport SEAWAT model. Sensitivity analyses were used to evaluate the impact of the parameters and boundary conditions on the modeling saltwater wedge in a...

In the Po plain, northern Italy, rivers within agricultural basins display steep summer increases in nitrate (NO3⁻) concentrations. Flood irrigation in overfertilized, permeable soils may drive such diffuse pollution, facilitating interactions between NO3⁻-rich groundwater and surface waters. We discuss multiple, indirect evidence of this mechanism...

Carbonate aquifers are the primary source of freshwater in Cuba. Unfortunately, coastal groundwater is often contaminated by seawater intrusion. The main aim of the present study was to test the efficacy of an experimental modelling approach, ranging from hydrogeology/geomorphology to microbiology, to better characterise both the hydraulic features...

Landslides are common in the Northern Apennines (Italy) and their resulting changes in soil structure affect edaphic fauna biodiversity, whose activity has concurrent impacts on soil structural stability and water-holding capacity. The aim of this study was to characterise landslide evolution and assess potential relationships between its hydrogeol...

In the Alpine sector of the Po River Plain, discharge of lake emissaries is regulated in order to satisfy large water demand by agriculture. In this study we analyzed how the alteration of the hydrological cycle in an irrigated basin (Mincio River, originating from the Lake Garda) locally affects groundwater recharge, river-groundwater interactions...

Grasslands with Molinia represent habitats of Community importance according with the Directive 92/43/EEC. In particular, they are attributable to the habitats 6410 “Molinia meadows on calcareous, peaty or clayey-siltladen soils Molinion caeruleae“ and 6420 “Mediterranean tall humid herb grasslands of the Molinio-Holoschoenion” (European Commission...

This paper summarizes the results of a study focused on the hydrogeological characterization and recognition of groundwater resources in continental southern Italy, developed under the European INTERREG IIC Programme. The study reconstructed up-to-date scientific knowledge regarding aquifers, groundwater circulation schemes and groundwater resource...

In the Parma Functional Urban Area, hydro-geo-ecology was investigated through an interdisciplinary approach, with emphasis on the shallow aquifer system. The study pointed out that domestic wells and fontanili are both fed by shallow groundwater affected by PCE and nitrate contamination, upgradient of the rural area located north of Parma City. Mo...

Water quality modeling is increasingly recognized as a useful tool for obtaining valuable information for optimal water quality management. In this study, the free software QUAL2Kw was used to evaluate the impacts of agricultural nitrogen (N) excess on river nitrate (NO3-N) concentrations. We explored the possibility to use QUAL2Kw in order to back...

In this paper we draw on a unique dataset of hydrological and microbiological time series to apply water footprint (WF) methodology to quantify the environmental impact of cattle grazing on karst area in a regional park of the southern Apennines (Italy). The use of WF methodology in the same specific environment where relevant data are monitored, a...

Messinian evaporates are widely distributed in the Mediterranean Sea as outcropping sediments in small marginal basins and in marine cores. Progressive filling of subbasins led to the formation of complex aquifer systems in different regions where hypersaline and fresh water coexist and interact in differentmanner. It also generates a significant d...

In the last decades, hydraulic barriers have been activated in a large number of polluted sites with the aim of preventing groundwater pollution outside the contaminated area. From a regulatory point of view, there is the need of evaluating the efficacy of these barriers. For this reason, the goal of the present study is to apply a coupled experime...

Agricultural coastal areas are frequently affected by the superimposition of various processes, with a combination of anthropogenic and natural sources, which degrade groundwater quality. In the coastal multi-aquifer system of Arborea (Italy)—a reclaimed morass area identified as a nitrate vulnerable zone, according to Nitrate Directive 91/676/EEC—...

A few hydrogeological studies have been carried out worldwide in peridotite aquifer systems, despite their wide distribution. The ophiolites are one of the main groundwater reservoir within the northern Apennines (Italy). This paper suggests the graphical solution to set the hydrogeological map of heterogeneous, multi-layered ophiolitic aquifers ma...

Waterborne pathogens represent a significant health risk in both developed and developing countries with sensitive sub-populations including children, the elderly, neonates, and immune-compromised people, who are particularly susceptible to enteric infections. Annually, approximately 1.8 billion people utilize a faecally contaminated water source,...

The main aim of this study is the experimental analysis of the hydrogeological behaviour of the Mt. Prinzera ultramafic massif in the northern Apennines, Italy. The analyzed multidisciplinary database has been acquired through: (i) Geologic and structural survey; (ii) Geomorphologic survey; (iii) Hydrogeological monitoring; (iv) Physico-chemical an...

The knowledge of the mechanisms regulating the concentration of nutrients in rivers is of fundamental importance in maintaining the ecological functioning of streams. In particular, in the riverbed sediments, where the biogeochemical activity is enhanced, the study of retention mechanisms becomes crucial in order to determine the restoring capacity...

Recently, meteorological events characterized by intense rainfalls fallen in few hours have been stricken the hilly and mountainous territory of Emilia-Romagna Region. Several types of effect on the ground: i.e. debris flows, shallow landslides and overbank flooding occurred, highlighting the vulnerability of this territory. In details, during the...

Intensive agriculture can influence groundwater composition, aquifer biogeochemistry and soil properties; this is especially true in coastal areas where groundwater is the main source of irrigation water. Depending on the irrigation efficiency, the aquifers may suffer from pollutant contamination and salinization caused by the encroaching sea. Info...

Carbonate aquifers, such as limestones and dolomites, are one of the main source of drinking water worldwide as it is estimated that 25% of the global population is supplied by karst water (Ford and Williams, 1989). Climatic changes, including significantly lower rainfall and higher temperatures are increasing the water stress and the need to study...

Located in a harsh desert region of Algeria, the Tindouf refugee camps have a population which has ranged between 90,000 and 165,000 persons depending on estimates. Since 1979, residents in the refugee camps have remained heavily dependent on international humanitarian aid. They depend on aid for food and non-food items, health care, education, san...

Limestone aquifers provide the main drinking water resources of southern Italy. Due to cattle grazing and/or manure spreading, these aquifers are often characterized by microbial contamination of groundwater. The aim of this paper is to summarize the results obtained during a 10-year research carried out in experimental field sites in southern Ital...

Knowledge of groundwater flow paths in dolomitic mountain areas is generally very limited due to the high complexity and heterogeneity of the fractured aquifer system. The purpose of this study is to interpret the hydrogeology of the Pale di San Martino mountain group (Trento and Belluno Provinces) with particular regard to the regional structural...

A few studies have been carried out worldwide in peridotite aquifer systems, despite their wide distribution. The main aim of this study was the experimental analysis of the hydrogeological behaviour of a test system in Northern Italy. The test system is the ultramafic massif of Mt Prinzera (Lat.44°38’30’’N, Long.10°5’E). An interdisciplinary appro...