Evolution of the groundwater system in the Chihuahua-Sacramento aquifer due to climatic and anthropogenic factors

Abstract

Groundwater is the main source of water in arid cities where precipitations are low and not evenly distributed. The combined impact of climate variability and intensive human activities has caused a substantial decline in groundwater levels. Understanding the response of groundwater levels to meteorological and anthropogenic factors is a key step to propose water management alternatives. Meteorological and groundwater data were used to design a multi-step approach to assess the influential factors on the groundwater system in the City of Chihuahua, Mexico. The analysis of historical groundwater levels and climate showed a clear increase in meteorological drought, as well as a groundwater abstraction trend since 1986. Rainfall, groundwater recharge, and groundwater level displayed a significant decrease. Overall, the groundwater depth is continuously increasing with a strong correlation with groundwater abstraction. Despite having a significant trend, the changes in land-cover, groundwater recharge, and meteorological drought were not the main factors inducing the decreased level of water in the aquifer. The continuous abstraction of groundwater from 1986 to 2010 has led to a depletion of groundwater levels from 32 to 92 m. The findings of this study lay a foundation for future water resource management in the study area.

Modeling the Groundwater Dynamics of the Celaya Valley Aquifer

“…The procedure for calculating the evolution of the static level consists of the subtraction between the elevation of the static level of the piezometric data of the oldest date, minus the elevation of the static level of the data with more recent date, and whose result between these two periods shows the change in the levels. If the result is negative, it means that the aquifer receives recharge, while if the change is positive, this indicates that the aquifer is dejected [16,17].…”