Hydrosaline balance evolution of an irrigated zone: The case of Lerma basin (Spain, 2004–2020)

Geochemical Modeling of Systems Affected by Irrigation: The Case of Lerma Basin (Spain, 2004-2020)

“…However, the global decrease during the final period would have depended more on the progressive consumption of the salts present in the soils due to the constant washing. The chemical unbalances of the average annual cumulative concentrations were very low (under 3 %, Causapé et al, 2023), which validates the methodology employed and supports its use as input data in PHREEQC.…”

“…The main controlling processes of the hydrogeochemical evolution were studied by evaluating the molar ratios between ions and from the geochemical modeling of the processes deduced from that analysis. The molar ratios were evaluated over the chemical analysis data of the 100 water samples collected at the Lerma gully over the years (Causapé et al, 2023) and considering the mineralogical data of the study zone.…”

“…Using the Lerma irrigation zone as a natural laboratory, Causapé et al ( 2023) made a substantial advance by presenting a study on the salinization of a hydric system due to irrigation return flows that encompassed not only the overall salt balances but also the individual balances for each major ion. The study goes a step further as it assesses the effect of irrigation in the long term (temporally dynamic, not static) and it is the second part of Causapé et al (2023).…”

“…The study zone is also the Lerma basin (Spain), of which 48 % of its surface (352 ha) was included in the Sector XII irrigation transformation zone of Bardenas II. The geographic, climatic, geological, and agronomic description is presented in Causapé et al (2023).…”

“…The methodology employed by Causapé et al (2023) to determine the components of the hydrosaline balances consists of using the concentrations of each ion to obtain mean annual values (per hydrological year) representative of the water inputs (rain and irrigation), aquifer storage, and water outputs at the drainage of the irrigable area of Lerma (Fig. 2).…”