Herramientas para la evaluación y gestión integrada del recurso hídrico

Abstract

Capítulo 1 -Herramientas para la evaluación y gestión integrada del recurso hídrico 13The climate change impacts on land use and vegetation cover can significantly influence the water balance and biogeochemical cycles in river basins, altering the processes of interception, evapotranspiration, infiltration, soil moisture, nutrient cycling and spatial and temporal patterns that characterize the hydrological response in these ecosystems. This paper presents the implementation of the MGB model for the integral management of water resources in the upper Magdalena River Basin using databases of precipitation stations available in the region. The model satisfactorily represented the rain-streamflow transformation process in the upper Magdalena River Basin. The results showed a good fit of the MGB model, especially for the middle and lower part of the River Basin. The research framework proposed here will allow a better understanding of the climate change impacts on the hydrological regime and water balance of a river basin, in order to generate management and conservation strategies. This approach could be used in future studies that integrate alterations in land use and vegetation cover, water quality, sediment transport, and water resources management.