Distribution of quarries in the piedmont region: the regional plan of mining activities (PRAE) as a tool for mining activities regulation and characterisation

Abstract

The Regional Plan of Mining Activities (PRAE), adopted in December 2022, represents the strategic regulation instrument pursuing the balance between environmental sustainability and economic development produced by mining activity at a regional scale. The paper proposes an overview of the main regional in-force instrument for surface and ground-water planning and management (PAI and PTA) and how these intersect with the introduced PRAE. Besides, the interaction between mining activities and the geomorphological and hydrogeological contexts in which they are located is described, defining the resulting constraints regarding their interaction with extraction areas. A significant portion of the quarries are located in the floodplain, falling both in river bands of medium–high probability of flooding and in areas involving aquifers bodies, hence these extractive sites are heavily restricted both in terms of excavation depths, never exceeding the base of the surface aquifer. The depth of the water table and the base of the aquifer represent the two fundamental parameters on which new restrictions have been defined in the PRAE in terms of the possibility of developing new quarry areas.