Wellhead Protection Areas Vulnerability and the Use of Pesticides: The Treviso Province Case Study

Abstract

Recent studies have experimentally analyzed the leaching at local scale of some of the most diffused pesticides used in agriculture. To evaluate the vulnerability of wells supplying drinking water to PPPs used within wellhead protection areas (WHPAs), a map of vulnerability has been developed starting from the PPPs sales data in the Treviso province. The PPPs spatial distribution, obtained from the sellers’ locations and the extension of the cultivation areas was superimposed with the extension of the WHPAs, led to a vulnerability map, giving a clear picture of the wells that require PPPs-specific actions.

Keywords

• wellhead protection areas
• vulnerability map
• pesticides
• drinking water supply
• geographical information system