Groundwater metal pollution is a major concern for societies, especially in areas where the mining industry is important. Index-based techniques, as the DRASTIC index, are often used to assess the intrinsic groundwater vulnerability and could be modified to evaluate the aquifer vulnerability to specific contaminants. Mines, mining wastes and related features are detectable with remote sensing techniques. In this work we evaluate the vulnerability of the Rio Sonora Aquifer to metallic pollution by the traditional DRASTIC method and by the addition of a land use (Lu) parameter in which possible sources of metals (detected by remote sensing) were considered (DRASTIC+Lu). The methodology allowed us to locate possible sources of metallic contamination. The Sonora River channel showed the higher vulnerability in both calculated vulnerability indices (DRASTIC and DRASTIC+Lu). Generally, the addition of the land use parameter caused a decrease in vulnerability but also a local increase where possible sources of metals were found. Thus, the modified method facilitated the identification of highly vulnerable areas which is relevant to better protect the studied aquifer.
Groundwater metal pollution is a major concern in mining areas. This study proposes a new addition to the DRASTIC method (DRASTIC+Lu) to assess groundwater vulnerability to metal pollution in mining areas by combining remote sensing (to locate metal pollution sources) and the DRASTIC index. The study was performed in a mining area in northwestern Mexico showing current and historical mining activities. The proposed methodology allowed locating known and unknown sources of metal pollution (mining tailings, active/inactive mines, and areas with exposed natural geochemical anomalies). Generally, the addition of the land use (Lu) parameter causes not only a decrease in vulnerability but also highlights very high vulnerable areas and identifies new ones in the vicinity of metal pollution sources. This result is relevant to focus stewardship efforts in very high vulnerable areas. Results allowed to identify the need to implement protection and restauration measures in the Sonora river channel and its vicinity. The proposed method could be implemented in other mining areas around the world –at a low cost– to locate unknown metal pollution sources and clearly identify very high vulnerable areas that play a key role in the protection of groundwater resources.
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