Glacier loss and hydro-social risks in the Peruvian Andes

Mark, Bryan G.; French, Adam; Baraër, Michel; Carey, Mark; Bury, Jeffrey; Young, Kenneth R.; Polk, Molly H.; Wigmore, Oliver; Lagos, Pablo; Crumley, Ryan; McKenzie, Jeffrey M.; Lautz, Laura K.

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.10.003

Cited by 103 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…The Shullcas River receives meltwater from the glaciers of the Cordillera Huaytapallana (Figure a), which have retreated by 44% between 1984 and 2011 (López‐Moreno et al, ). The Shullcas River is the primary water source for the city of Huancayo (population: 365 K; Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Informática, ), which experiences frequent water shortages during the dry season (Mark et al, ). The social and economic importance of this watershed and availability of climate, glacier, hydrologic, and hydrogeological data make the Shullcas Watershed an ideal test site to use a system approach to assess the impact of climate change on Andean hydrology.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Groundwater Buffers Decreasing Glacier Melt in an Andean Watershed—But Not Forever

Somers

McKenzie

Mark

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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Accelerating mountain glacier recession in a warming climate threatens the sustainability of mountain water resources. The extent to which groundwater will provide resilience to these water resources is unknown, in part due to a lack of data and poorly understood interactions between groundwater and surface water. Here we address this knowledge gap by linking climate, glaciers, surface water, and groundwater into an integrated model of the Shullcas Watershed, Peru, in the tropical Andes, the region experiencing the most rapid mountain‐glacier retreat on Earth. For a range of climate scenarios, our model projects that glaciers will disappear by 2100. The loss of glacial meltwater will be buffered by relatively consistent groundwater discharge, which only receives minor recharge (~2%) from glacier melt. However, increasing temperature and associated evapotranspiration, alongside potential decreases in precipitation, will decrease groundwater recharge and streamflow, particularly for the RCP 8.5 emission scenario.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…experiences frequent water shortages during the dry season (Mark et al, 2017). The social and economic importance of this watershed and availability of climate, glacier, hydrologic, and hydrogeological data make the Shullcas Watershed an ideal test site to use a system approach to assess the impact of climate change on Andean hydrology.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Buffers Decreasing Glacier Melt in an Andean Watershed—But Not Forever

Somers

McKenzie

Mark

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…Rapid climate change is resulting in dramatic glacier mass loss in Peru, Bolivia, and other Andean countries (Rabatel, Francou, Soruco, Gomez, & many, 2013;Vuille et al, 2018). The potential long-term reduction in stream flow is a significant issue where dense human populations and agriculture rely on water runoff from the highlands (Bradley, Vuille, Diaz, & Vergara, 2006;Buytaert et al, 2017;Buytaert, Celleri, & Timbe, 2009;Engel, Skrzypek, Chuman, & Sefrna, 2014;Mark et al, 2017;Rabatel et al, 2013;Soruco et al, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of peatland water table dynamics in the central Andes, Bolivia and Peru

Cooper

Sueltenfuss

Oyague

et al. 2019

Hydrological Processes

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Cushion plant dominated peatlands are key ecosystems in tropical alpine regions of the Andes in South America. The cushion plants have formed peat bodies over thousands of years that fill many valley bottoms, and the forage produced by the plants is critical for native and nonnative domesticated mammals. The sources and flow paths of water supporting these peatlands remain largely unknown. Some studies have suggested that glacier meltwater streams support some peatlands, and that the ongoing loss of glaciers and their meltwaters could lead to the loss or diminishment of peatlands. We analysed the hydrologic regime of 10 peatlands in four mountain regions of Bolivia and Peru using groundwater monitoring. Groundwater levels in peatlands were relatively stable and within 20 cm of the ground surface during the rainy season, and many sites had water tables 40–90 cm below the ground surface in the dry season. Topographic and groundwater elevations in the peatlands demonstrated that the water source of all 10 peatlands was hillslope groundwater flowing from lateral moraines, talus, colluvium, or bedrock aquifers into the peatlands. There was little to no input from streams, whether derived from glacier melt or other sources, and glacier melt could not have recharged the hillslope aquifers supporting peatlands. We measured the stable water isotopes in water samples taken during different seasons, distributed throughout the catchments, and the values are consistent with this interpretation. Our findings indicate that peatlands in the study region are recharged by hillslope groundwater discharge rather than stream water and may not be as vulnerable to glacial decline as other studies have indicated. However, both glaciers and peatlands are susceptible to changing thermal and precipitation regimes that could affect the persistence of peatlands.

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“…Later Molly Polk and others () showed that downslope alpine wetlands in the same valleys also presented this same nonlinear relationship in their spatial patterns, although with a time delay as water gradually worked its way from glaciers to lower parts of the watershed. In addition, because this glacier‐influenced hydrological system is exploited for coastal agriculture and urban water supplies, there are also many socioeconomic implications of this kind of dynamism (Mark and others ), thus connecting researchers to broader societal impacts.…”

Section: Research and The Anthropocenementioning

confidence: 99%