Hydraulic features of the Venice Lagoon drainage basin

摘要

The land reclamation network that flows into the Venice Lagoon covers an area of approximately 2,000 km~2 and is characterized by a considerable number of channels, pumping stations and water level regulating works, making it one of the most complex of its kind in the lowland areas of north-eastern Italy. It is of vital importance to understand the features of said network with a view to planning action and managing the territory, particularly to help prevent flooding, to distribute the water for irrigation and to implement measures for improving the quality of the water released from the catchment basin into the Venice Lagoon. A Territorial Information System has consequently been developed, suitably structured to adjust easily to the changes that frequently occur in the configuration of the network as a result of various measures, consisting in the construction of new stretches of channel and other water level regulating installations. The present study emphasized the complexity of the network, characterized by the presence of over 3,200 km of primary channels managed by land reclamation consortia, with a density of 1.14 km/km~2, and about 660 main control works.