Rend. Online Soc. Geol. It., Vol. 48 (2019), pp. 10-16, 4 figs., 1 tab. (https://doi.org/10.3301/ROL.2019.
31)
© Società Geologica Italiana, Roma 2019
Anthropogenic changes in the alluvial plains of the Tyrrhenian
Ligurian basins
Fabio Luino (1), Guido Paliaga (1), Anna Roccati (1), Alessandro Sacchini (2),
Laura Turconi (1) & Francesco Faccini (1, 2)
(1) CNR-IRPI, Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection – Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino (Italy).
(2) UNIGE-Distav, Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, Genoa University Corso Europa, 27 16144, Genova (Italy).
Corresponding author e-mail: gpaliaga@gmail.com
Document type: Original Article.
Manuscript submitted 25 September 2018; accepted 15 March 2019; editorial responsibility and handling by M. Del Monte.
ABSTRACT
Riverbeds and floodplains in the Mediterranean area have been
largely affected by anthropogenic modifications mainly with incision,
narrowing and channeling of the riverbed. In many cases these
changes have also involved the river network, from braided to single
thread.
The Ligurian coastal floodplains are historically affected by
flooding. In recent decades, an increase in floods has been observed
either for the variation of the rainfall regime and for man-made
landforms that influenced the geomorphological processes.
This paper provides a first analysis of the morphological evolution
of the ‘floodplain-riverbed’ system in the recent past in Ligurian
Tyrrhenian basins. Human activities have modified the environment
of the coastal floodplains: in all the analyzed cases the narrowing
and the culverting of the riverbed have been found above all in the
terminal stretch. Other changes concern diversion of watercourses
and progradation of the coastline due to embankment.
In many cases, the extent of the changes obliterated the presence
of watercourses, reducing or eliminating the perception of risk.
The knowledge of anthropic changes should therefore be used as a
management and planning tool in the framework of risk reduction
activities.
KEYWORDS: flood, floodplain, anthropogenic modification,
riverbed narrowing, Liguria.
INTRODUCTION
Most of the national and Mediterranean cities are
located along rivers, often in the terminal stretch in a
coastal floodplain (Anthony et al., 2014a). Following the
centuries-old anthropogenic activities, such as dams,
sediment extraction and river canalization, most of the
riverbeds and floodplains have undergone significant
changes, particularly from the beginning of the XX century
(Surian & Rinaldi, 2003; Ollero, 2010; Camarasa-Belmonte
& Soriano-Garcia, 2012; Faccini et al., 2015; Brandolini et
al., 2017). In general, for the major Italian watercourses
two main changes have been identified: a) bed incision,
often metric; b) transformation into a channel, often with
significant reduction of the outflow section. In many cases
these alterations have also involved the modification of
the fluvial pattern, from braided to wandering to single
channel.
The Ligurian maritime slopes extend for about 300
km between the French border to the west and the Tuscan
border to the east: this narrow strip of land has hundreds
of small watersheds characterized by limited floodplains,
narrow and elongated, on which, however, all the major
cities of Liguria outspread (Paliaga et al., 2019). In fact, the
Tyrrhenian Ligurian basins have a modest size (up to 150
km2, a few cases between 150-500 km2, Fig.  1), watershed
at an altitude above 1000 m asl at a short distance from
the coast (less than 5-10 km), terminal stretch significantly
urbanized. The Ligurian coastal floodplains are historically
affected by flash floods that have caused damage and
frequently casualties (Faccini et al., 2015; Luino & Turconi,
2017; Faccini et al., 2018). In recent decades, an increase in
flooding phenomena have been observed, but it is difficult
to assess whether the cause is linked to the variation of the
rainfall regime, or to the man-made landforms that have
impacted on the geomorphological processes (Acquaotta
et al., 2018a).
To date there is no scientific information on the
modifications of the Ligurian riverbeds and floodplains,
except for the case of the Magra river (Surian & Rinaldi,
2004; Rinaldi et al., 2016), which, however, due to size
and land use, is not comparable with the other regional
Tyrrhenian basins. A very recent scientific contributions
on floodplain modifications due to anthropic activities
concern the Bisagno and Entella rivers catchments, in the
Genoa metropolitan area (Faccini et al., 2018; Roccati et
al., 2018).
This article provides a preliminary analysis on the
morphological evolution of coastal floodplains and
Ligurian riverbeds, with the aim of: a) reconstructing
the main changes in the ‘alluvial plain-riverbed’ system
in the recent past; b) to define the temporal tendencies
of the anthropic modifications on the floodplain and the
riverbed; c) provide a further contribution to the knowledge
framework on morphological changes into national river
systems.
 Anthropogenic changes in the alluvial plains of the Tyrrhenian Ligurian basins
MATERIALS & METHODS
The study area includes 30 catchments among the
relatively largest ones in the Liguria region (Fig. 1), where
a good availability of historical maps is present; besides,
the whole area is periodically hit by intense rain events and
consequent floods (Brandolini et al., 2008). Considering the
recent years, important events in the region were recorded
in 2000, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2011 (twice), 2013, four events
in 2014 and 2015, mainly in fall with precipitation amount
from over 200 to 600 mm/d and peak values of 180 mm/1h
and 550 mm /6h. Pluviometry does not show any trend in
the annual rainfall, but a statistically significant one in
rainfall intensity with a secular increasing in the annual
rainfall rate (Faccini et al., 2015) has been found together
with a recent increase in the intensity of short duration
rainfall and climate indices for daily series (Acquaotta et
al., 2018b).
The catchments share some common features: high
slope gradient, small-size floodplains and quite high
elevation in the upper part (> 1000 m asl). Only the largest
two, Entella and Centa, have a fairly extensive plain of
about 8,3 km2 and 22,4 km2 respectively; all of them are
urbanized along the coastline with soil consumption
that locally reaches values greater than 75% (Faccini et
al., 2018), but in the hinterland natural features prevail.
Drainage networks are well developed, and concentrated
erosion is widespread. The morphometric features cause
short time of concentration typically less than 1-2 hours,
while most of the riverbed in the terminal stretch are
culverted: often, in case of heavy rains, their capacity is
saturated.
The area has been examined through a multitemporal
comparison of maps and of vector and raster current
data in GIS environment. Historical maps have been
georeferenced thanks to the identification of still existing
constructions such as bridges, fortifications, churches,
monastery and natural features. This step has been crucial
to obtain precise quantitative comparison of the riverbed
narrowing that happened progressively through time,
interesting all the catchments at various degree. In many
cases the comparison has been possible in more sections
of the riverbed, due to data availability. A total amount
of 32 historical maps have been georeferenced. The error
11
introduced by the transformation in the georeferencing
process has been estimated through the total Root Mean
Square Error of the differences between the actual positions
and the transformed ones for all the ground control points
used (Roccati, 2018). Finally, we measured the lengths of
unchanged features on the maps as large buildings and
natural features to evaluate the reliability of the process.
The mean estimated error in length calculation has been
of less than 15 m.
The following historical maps have been used with
scale in the range 1:9450 and 1:10000: middle XVIII
Century Matteo Vinzoni maps, XIX Century Sardinia
Kingdom maps that with good detail covered all the
selected catchments and the more recent XX Century
(1939) Italian Military Geographic Institute (IGMI) maps.
The comparison has been achieved using the technical
map (CTR) raster map at 1:5000 scale and the following
vector data: catchments, at 1:25000 scale, year 2001 and
coastline, at 1:10000 scale, year 2013. Additionally, a 5
m DTM model has been used in the final analysis maps
to evaluate the precise extension of the floodplains. All
current data have been acquired from the local authority
(Regione Liguria). The analysis of present days (2017)
aerial photographs allowed to identify mainly the coastline
features. Soil sealing has been calculated using raster data
(ISPRA, 2017) for the 30 studied floodplains.
RESULTS
The historical multi-temporal map comparison on
the coastal floodplains and the Ligurian catchments has
allowed to highlight some important morphological
changes due to human activity. In particular, almost all
watercourses have been affected by significative riverbed
narrowing. Fig. 2 highlights the narrowing that Polcevera
stream was subjected to. The colored stretch underlines
how the section has been more than halved compared
to the current 100 meters, in the section of plain just
downstream of the famous recent tragedy of the collapse of
the “Morandi bridge” on the A12 motorway. A total amount
of 74 riverbed narrowing points have been calculated
for the 30 studied catchments: the mean narrowing has
resulted in more than 40% that, even considering the
Fig. 1 - The 15 main selected
catchments in the study area
and the main cities at the
rivers mouth.
12
Fig. 2 - Comparison of historical (1815-1823) and present-day map for the Polcevera stream final stretch; the riverbed width reduction is
evidenced on the right.
maximum possible error in the georeferencing process,
would lead to about 25%. In many situations, not reported
in tab. 1, narrowing has resulted greater than 50% and
even than 75% as in T. Sturla (Genova, Est from catchment
12 in Fig. 1), T. S. Pietro (Imperia, West from catchment 4
in Fig. 1) and T. Arroscia (a right tributary of Centa stream,
catchment 6 in Fig. 1).
The Fig. 2 also shows the progradation of the
watercourse at sea for subsequent dropouts and filled at sea
embankment to recover flat areas near the sea, tied to the
growth of the port of Genoa and the industrial development
of Italy which was born with the establishment of the heavy
industry in Polcevera Valley starting from the second half
of the 19th century.
The progradation at sea and in any case the formation
of the ‘techno–coast’ concern almost all the Ligurian coastal
floodplains (Tab.1), as well as the narrowing of the riverbed
with other examples already studied as on the Bisagno and
Entella rivers (Faccini et al., 2018; Roccati et al., 2018).
Other types of morphological variation of anthropic origin
highlighted in the Ligurian floodplains are the culverting
and the diversion of the riverbed, above all in Genoa old
F. Luino ET AL.
city (Brandolini et al., 2018). The culvert extends on most
of the very small basins and is often complete for the
entire section of the floodplain relative to the watercourses
of the first hierarchical orders (sensu Strahler) directly
leading to the sea. Another case of well-known culvert
sadly famous for frequent and damaging floods on a larger
basin concerns the Bisagno stream that crosses the center
of Genoa and is culverted up to its mouth for the last 1,5
km (Faccini et al., 2018). The diversion of the riverbed in
the last century are more represented in the area of the
Genoese metropolitan city with examples such as the
stream Ruscarolo in Sestri Ponente (Faccini et al., 2015)
and Polcevera in Bolzaneto, the San Siro torrents in Santa
Margherita Ligure and Boate in Rapallo (Brandolini et al.,
2017), while other diversions related to the economic and
commercial activities of the Republic of Genoa between
the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern era
include, for example, the stream Recco, the river Entella in
Chiavari and the Centa river in Albenga.
Examining the morphological evolution of Ligurian
watercourses by adopting the recent methodologies for the
analysis of geomorphic effects due to flash floods (Belletti
 Anthropogenic changes in the alluvial plains of the Tyrrhenian Ligurian basins
et al., 2018; Surian, 2018), we can highlight various
evolutionary mechanisms for Ligurian watercourses that
often presented an initial braided morphology and are
often evolved towards a transitional morphology or more
often single thread (Fig. 3). The originally single-threaded
waterways were nevertheless channeled and often grafted
or otherwise subject to a techno-coast near their mouth.
The braided torrents have followed various evolutionary
lines that have led them to evolve into narrow channels,
sometimes totally culverted and almost always subject to
‘techno–coast’ (Tab. 1).
In the selected Ligurian floodplains a high consumption
of soil is observed, always higher than 20%, but often
higher than 60 and even 80% (peaks in land consumption
at Genova Sestri Ponente, see Fig. 4a). The maximum
values are recognized in the central area of the Ligurian
arc, between Savona a W and Sestri Levante a E: this strip
of coast is most affected by the effects of cyclogenesis on
the Gulf of Genoa and therefore by more frequent and
intense floods. Similarly, in all the selected cases, there
is a strong narrowing of the riverbed of 50% on average,
sometimes even more than 70%.
To such values of soil consumption in the plain
correspond very often values of soil consumption on the
entire basin often higher than 5% or even 10% in the
Genoese area in the valleys of the Bisagno and Polcevera
streams (Tab. 1).
Fig. 3 - The channel classification from Surian et al. (2003), basing on incision and narrowing, on the left; on the right the Polcevera riverbed
modification B-D-F-H as detected through the cartographic analysis.
13
The analysis of historical data concerning the casualties
of geo-hydrological events according to the National
Research Council statistics (available at: http://polaris.
irpi.cnr.it/) shows that the number of victims due to floods
and landslides is very high and growing exponentially over
time (Fig. 4b) with over 400 deaths since 1700 among
which 300 from 1900 and 200 from 1950.
The fatalities are distributed throughout the region as
well as the displaced persons (Fig. 4c) which reach more
than 250 in some areas of Liguria.
DISCUSSION
The historical cartographic analysis has allowed to
highlight evolutionary trends common to the coastal
floodplains of the Tyrrhenian Ligurian catchments and
the close correlation between anthropic intervention,
morphological changes and land use and increase in flood
risk in urbanized areas.
The transformation from a predominantly rural
landscape, with cultivated fields and wide naturally
vegetated sectors, to a strongly man modified landscape
with a dense urban fabric and extensive artificial areas,
is a consequence of the rapid and often disorderly
urbanization of the coastal floodplains from the end of
14 F. Luino ET AL.

TABLE 1

Features of the 15 main studied rivers and related catchments.

River Floodplain Catchment
Initial Narrowing Pattern Type of Techno
River diversion or urbanization urbanization
morphology (%) change adjustment coast
culverted (%) (%)
From braided to
ROJA 1 braided 61 B–D-F NO YES 36 5,7
transistional
From braided to
NERVIA 2 braided 59 B–D-F NO YES 32 3,1
single thread
From braided to
ARGENTINA 3 braided 71 B–D-F NO YES 32 4,8
single thread
From braided to
IMPERO 4 braided 60 B- D- F- H NO YES 56 6,5
single thread
MERULA 5 Single thread 36 no A-C NO NO 31 5,9
CENTA 6 braided 65 no B- D YES NO 28 3,7
QUILIANO 7 Single thread 26 no A–C-F NO YES 39 3,9
LETIMBRO 8 Single thread 26 no A–C-F-H NO YES 77 8,7
TEIRO 9 Single thread 54 no A- C – E - G YES YES 75 6
SANSOBBIA 10 Single thread 32 no A – C- F NO YES 37 3,7
From braided to
POLCEVERA 11 braided 42 B–D–F-H YES YES 63 13,1
single thread
BISAGNO 12 Single thread 45 no A – C – E- G YES YES 71 12,9
ENTELLA 13 Single thread 20 no A–C–F-H YES YES 36 8,2
PETRONIO 14 Single thread 40 no A–C-F NO YES 63 6
GHIARARO 15 Single thread 28 no A–C-F NO YES 42 6,5

Nineteenth century and particularly after the post-war
period (Sacchini et al., 2016; Faccini et al., 2018). The
industrial, commercial and tourist development of the
coastal centers, the construction of new communication
and transport routes, and the progressive depopulation of
the rural hinterland sectors have caused a considerable
increase in population and the consequent search for new
spaces for construction of residential neighborhoods,
roads, industrial, commercial and port sites (Antrop, 2000;
Vogt et al., 2004; Hearn et al., 2014; Paliaga et al., 2018).
The increasing urbanization and anthropic pressure
on the coastal floodplains cause the ever-increasing
consumption of soil: an ever denser and more compact
urban fabric has replaced whole cultivated or naturally
vegetated sectors, modifying the morphology of the
watercourses that cross the plains, deleting beaches and
profoundly transforming the profile of the coastline. The
narrowing of riverbeds, the diversion, channeling and
culverting of whole stretches, especially terminals and at
the mouth, are directly related to the continuous search
for spaces for the construction of buildings, roads, bridges,
infrastructures, industrial sites, tourist and sports facilities
(Scalenghe & Marsan, 2009). The extraction of gravel and
sand from the riverbeds and beaches due to the growing
demand for building materials, between the end of the 19th
and the first half of the 20th century, and the creation of new
artificial spaces used for port facilities or airports in the
course of the twentieth century, through carryovers, fills,
groins and breakwaters, have caused deep morphological
variations of the waterways and of the coastline (Kondolf,
1997), with the obliteration of entire beaches and the
transformation into ‘techno-coast’ (Anthony, 2014b).
The progressive reduction of the distances from the
riverbeds, the culverts of the channels and in many cases
the total artificialization of the areas of natural expansion
of the rivers during the floods, and the growing anthropic
presence in sectors of the floodplain historically occupied
by the waters in the course of alluvial events, have caused
an increase in flood risk (Faccini et al., 2018). This trend
is highlighted by the increase in flooding phenomena in
recent decades (Acquaotta et al., 2018b), both in terms
of the number of events and the extent of the damage
caused and the population involved. Although it is difficult
to assess whether the greater frequency with which
damaging alluvial events occur is related to the change
in rainfall or anthropogenic forms that have influenced
the geomorphological processes, nevertheless from the
historical analysis it is evident the negative impact that
urbanization has exercised on the balance between the
different elements that form the floodplain.
The knowledge of morphological variations of coastal
plains and riverbeds in relation to human activities,
together with the historical memory of alluvial phenomena,
is therefore fundamental for sustainable urban planning
and aimed at flood risk reduction activities (Petrucci &
Polemio, 2007).
CONCLUSIONS
In the last centuries, the Ligurian coastal floodplains
have been affected by significative morphological changes.
The causes are to be found in the natural environment, but
above all in the important anthropic conditions that these
territorial realities have undergone.
Historical and current cartography, multi-temporal
aerial photography and present days images were
compared by using GIS systems. Through these last
 Anthropogenic changes in the alluvial plains of the Tyrrhenian Ligurian basins 15

Fig. 4 - Top: thematic map of the soil consumption in the floodplain and artificial coastline for all the 30 studied catchments. Bottom: casualties
and flood events.

ones, the evolution of the coastal floodplain has been
evaluated, in terms of reduction of the natural spaces (due
to canalization), variation in the use of the territory and
exploitation of the coastal stretch.
The quantitative analysis carried out through the
diachronous documentation of the maps and photos
reveals the trend over time of the watercourse connected
to obvious changes in channel length, width, sinuosity and
position, the transition from natural areas (with vegetated
and cultivated areas) to anthropic environments (with
large artificial areas) and the progressive regression of the
coast.
The increase in urban development has compromised
the naturalness of the morphological context of coastal
floodplains, already constrained between steep slopes and
the sea (Antrop, 2004). The main morphological changes
of the Ligurian alluvial floodplains are connected to: i)
land-use change from mainly agricultural to complete
urbanization of the flood-plain until culverted channels;
ii) change in the channel width narrowing of the riverbed
section; iii) displacement of the watercourse and river
diversion; iv) coastal plain progradation.
The morpho-evolutive preliminary model has led to a
rapid evolution of the morphological plain with channel
narrowing (from 20% to 71%) and pattern changes in over
30% of watercourse cases, from braided to transitional or
to single thread. The change in land use, the narrowing
and channeling of watercourses (through containment and
16 F. Luino ET AL.
culvert) has increased the risk of flooding (Wheater et al.,
2009) for those living in coastal areas. The floods risk is
increasing considering the occurrence of heavy rains on
a very urbanized area (Acquaotta et al., 2018a; Faccini
et al., 2018), above all combining the ongoing climate
change and a potential increase in sea levels. It is therefore
useful to compare the maps as a tool to evaluate the
geomorphological evolution of the floodplains, based on
an integrated approach of geomorphology and the allied
discipline.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Research carried out with financial support from the RECONECT
Project – EU H2020.
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