Impacts of Groundwater Management Policies in the Caplina Aquifer, Atacama Desert

Abstract

Groundwater constitutes one of the main sources used to satisfy the water demands of the different users located in a basin. Current groundwater pumping rates in many cases exceed natural recharge, resulting in the overexploitation of aquifers and the deterioration of water quality. Consequently, many aquifer systems in the world have applied and adapted policies to manage the use of groundwater. In this article, we investigate the impacts of groundwater management policies on the Caplina aquifer located in the Atacama Desert, Peru. To evaluate these impacts, we review policies and regulations implemented during the last 40 years. Likewise, more than 25 scientific investigations that were carried out in this aquifer are reviewed and analyzed to understand its hydrodynamics and hydrochemistry, as well as the impact of climate change, among other aspects. The results, based on scientific evidence, show that the current and future conditions of the groundwater of the Caplina aquifer are not sustainable, and likewise, public policies are not effective for reversing this situation. This leads the aquifer system to a situation in which there is a quality degradation of the water, to a point that may be irreversible.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Olive Tree Water Status Using Land Surface Temperature and Vegetation Indices Derived from Landsat 5 and 8 Satellite Imagery in Southern Peru

“…In addition, it was not possible to compare with SPI or to apply another hydrological method due to minimal rainfall (Figure 2), being in a semi-arid area. However, from 2005 onwards there was an excessive increase in land use for agriculture [31,32], increasing cultivated areas and water needs, leading to the need to drill new wells and causing overexploitation and marine intrusion problems in the Caplina aquifer [32,33]. In areas with drought, which were predominant in all years of the study, there was also a tendency to severe drought.…”

“…Also, because of the irrigation interval, most of the fields from 1995 to 2005 were irrigated by gravity irrigation [7]. However, from 2005 to 2024 the use of drip irrigation will have increased exponentially [32]. The study years show the same trend of drought, except in 2005 when there was a decrease in severe drought and drought, obtaining a higher percentage in moderate drought (Tables 3-5).…”

“…It has a temperate-warm, desert climate with mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures (1950-2024 period) of 23.6 • C and 12.7 • C (Figure 2). Annual rainfall is scarce and even non-existent, characteristic of the driest desert in the world [8,[31][32][33]; the water deficit does not allow agricultural demands to be met, so groundwater is used almost entirely. Moreover, the predominant crop is the olive tree, which faces extreme stress conditions, with planting frames of 5 × 5, 7 × 7 and 10 × 10 m, mostly under drip irrigation [7].…”

Assessment of Greywater Reuse in a University Building in a Hyper-Arid Region: Quantity, Quality, and Social Acceptance

“…Tacna is a Peruvian city located in the southern coastal region. It is a hyper-arid area, situated at the head of the Atacama Desert [6,7], where precipitation does not exceed 10 mm per year in some areas [8,9]. In 2022, Tacna's Special Project conducted an update of the water balance for reserve purposes, indicating that the water supply is 13.2 m 3 /s, with a demand of 21.7 m 3 /s (for surface and groundwater sources), resulting in a water deficit of 8.45 m 3 /s [10].…”