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Groundwater flow model, recharge estimation and sustainability in an arid region of Patagonia, Argentina

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Abstract

The Península Valdés, in northeastern Patagonia, Argentina, is characterised by its arid climate and the lack of perennial watercourses; thus, all economic activities depend on the groundwater resources. Water demand is mainly associated with tourism, which is centralised in Puerto Pirámides and supplied by a water desalination plant, and to sheep farming, supplied by the local aquifer. Due to the exponential growth of tourism, the government is planning to exploit groundwater and convey it by aqueduct to the abovementioned locality. The objectives of this study were to corroborate the conceptual geohydrological model, to develop a mathematical model to simulate the response of the aquifer to different scenarios, and to assess the incidence of water input into the system as a variable—a function that poses difficulties in the models for arid regions. The Visual Modflow 4.1 code was used, calibrating it in trial-and-error mode, changing the recharge and hydraulic conductivity parameters with different variants in the recharge zone and in the inclusion or exclusion of the evapotranspiration module. Results indicate the importance of the recharge analysis by treating rainfall at daily time steps. The adjusted model was exposed to four scenarios with variations in water input and in output by pumping. It can be concluded that under different input conditions, but with a controlled extraction, the system responds in a sustainable manner.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica and the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina. The cooperation of the Centro Nacional Patagónico is much appreciated. The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Administración Área Natural Protegida Península Valdés and the Dirección Provincial de Obras Hídricas de la Provincia del Chubut for their logistics support. We would like to thank Lic. Andrés Bilmes for his assistance in the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Cátedra de Hidrogeología, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 122 y 60, 1900, La Plata, Argentina

    María del Pilar Alvarez & Mario Alberto Hernández

  2. Cátedra de Hidrogeología, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 122 y 60, 1900, La Plata, Argentina

    María Marta Trovatto & Nilda González

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  1. María del Pilar Alvarez
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  2. María Marta Trovatto
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  3. Mario Alberto Hernández
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  4. Nilda González
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Correspondence to María del Pilar Alvarez.

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Alvarez, M.d.P., Trovatto, M.M., Hernández, M.A. et al. Groundwater flow model, recharge estimation and sustainability in an arid region of Patagonia, Argentina. Environ Earth Sci 66, 2097–2108 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1435-8

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