Sustainable Hydropower and Hydropeaking
Our research focuses on understanding the impacts of hydropeaking on river systems, with a particular emphasis on sub-daily flow fluctuations and their ecological and hydrological consequences. This work builds on a long-standing research site in Italy and is now being extended to new case studies in Germany, India, and Mexico. Through field-based monitoring and time-series analysis, we investigate how hydropower operations influence downstream flow variability and water level dynamics across diverse environmental and regulatory contexts, contributing to the development of more sustainable hydropower management strategies.
In parallel, we examine groundwater–surface water interactions under hydropeaking conditions, focusing on how rapid flow fluctuations propagate into the subsurface. Ongoing work explores potential links between hydropeaking and changes in redox conditions in impacted aquifers, with implications for water quality and biogeochemical processes. By connecting hydrological dynamics with subsurface responses, this research contributes to a more integrated understanding of river–aquifer systems under anthropogenic pressure.