Ensuring resilience of the Po River Delta to rising relative sea levels using nature-based solutions for building land and mitigating subsidence
Deltas are among the Earth's largest depositional features and are ecologically and economically important. However, the continued increase in extreme weather events, population growth, and human-induced subsidence pose a serious threat to the sustainability of many deltas around the world. It is increasingly clear that engineering structures (such as dams, dams, and levees) are unsustainable and can reduce the long-term resilience of delta ecosystems. Therefore, a shift in vision is underway in river delta management plans, which calls for a shift from rigid infrastructure to new "work with the river" approaches, placing widespread interest in nature-based solutions for delta restoration.
This research project aims to test the feasibility of nature-based solutions to increase the resilience of the Po Delta—the main delta system in Italy and one of the most important globally—to relative sea level rise, ultimately mitigating the long-term risks of flooding and storms and ensuring the sustainability of delta communities. Emphasis will be placed on quantifying the delta system's intrinsic capacity to create new land and contribute to the accretion of existing land through the deposition of sediment transported by the river, as evidenced by a recently emerged crevasse splay in a previously dammed and completely flooded area.
This objective will be achieved through a multidisciplinary approach involving sedimentological analyses, remote sensing, and numerical modeling. Through sedimentological analyses and remote sensing, potential land-building rates will be estimated. The information obtained in the field will be used to develop and calibrate a custom hydromorphodynamic numerical model. Once calibrated, the model will be applied to the entire Po Delta and used to assess the potential reduction of its vulnerability through the creation of controlled diversions of sediment inputs and the movement of canal banks to promote active sedimentation and counteract the effects of land subsidence and eustatic sea level rise. The results will improve knowledge on the resilience of natural systems and offer critical insights for future management strategies of the Po River Delta and similar coastal areas.
CNR Scientific Advisor:
Dr. Valentina M. Rossi, CNR-IGG
Project Coordinator:
Dr. Alvise Finotello, Università degli Studi di Padova
CNR-IGG Staff Involved:
Andrea Irace
Luca Zaggia
Anmol Raj Mandal
Andrea Berton
Sandra Trifirò
CNR-IRPI staff involved:
Matteo Mantovani