Where does the water go? Understanding geohydrological behaviour of Andean catchments in south-central Chile

Arumí, José Luis; Maureira, Héctor; Souvignet, Maxime; Pérez, César; Rivera, Diego; Oyarzún, Roberto

doi:10.1080/02626667.2014.934250

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…To reproduce such conditions, the Renegado-Diguillín model was modified by adding a groundwater connection, where a percentage of the Renegado base flow was transferred to the Diguillín watershed. This finding is consistent with an indirect estimation of groundwater storage evolution [11] based on recession flow analysis. In that work it was shown that whereas for the Upper Diguillín basin and the period 1961-2010, no increase or decrease trend in groundwater storage was detected; for the Renegado sub-basin, it was possible to observe a statistically significant decreasing trend in subsurface water storage.…”

Section: Water Balance Analysissupporting

confidence: 91%

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Andean Mountain Groundwater, Drinking Water Sources, and Vulnerability: A Case Study in Central Chile

Arumí¹,

Muñoz²,

Oyarzún³

2019

Groundwater - Resource Characterisation and Management Aspects

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This chapter presents a study of the Diguillín basin in central Chile where geology is dominated by the Nevados del Chillan volcanic complex. The headwater of the basin has two watersheds: Renegado creek and Alto Diguillín. The hydrogeology was studied using field surveys, streamflow gauging, environmental tracers, and a hydrological model. Surface water balance does not fit for both watersheds because there is a deficit/excess of superficial runoff. Renegado soils are predominantly sands over a basement composed of fractured rock; infiltration of rain and snowmelt predominates over surface runoff, resulting in about 5 m 3 /s of depth groundwater that flows to the Diguillín River, discharging in a cluster of springs located 3 km downstream of the surface connection. Therefore, drinking water availability for the communities located at the Renegado watershed is limited to some springs that are located around the valley. There is a significant expansion of second home construction in the area of the Renegado watershed; because of its skiing and hot springs, it is a major tourism center. Due to the extensive use of septic tanks, located above the highly permeable soils that overlie the fractured rock aquifer, there is concern about how water quality may be affected.

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Section: Water Balance Analysissupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The answer to that question is rooted in the hydrogeological characteristics of the Renegado Valley [10][11][12]. But that answer, which will be presented in this chapter, raised a second question about the vulnerability of the drinking water sources of the communities that are being developed along the mountain valley.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Andean Mountain Groundwater, Drinking Water Sources, and Vulnerability: A Case Study in Central Chile

Arumí¹,

Muñoz²,

Oyarzún³

2019

Groundwater - Resource Characterisation and Management Aspects

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“…As serial correlation may affect the ability of the MK test to assess the significance of the detected trends (Yue & Wang, ), its presence was tested. When detected, a pre‐whitening approach was followed before the MK procedure was applied (Arumí et al, ; Yue & Wang, ).…”

Section: Data Sources and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As serial correlation may affect the ability of the MK test to assess the significance of the detected trends (Yue & Wang, 2004), its presence was tested. When detected, a pre-whitening approach was followed before the MK procedure was applied (Arumí et al, 2014;Yue & Wang, 2004). For the cases where a trend was detected, the slope was estimated using the non-parametric Sen's method (Sen, 1968), which calculates the median of all possible pairwise slopes, and is referred to hereafter as Sen's slopes (Helsel & Hirsch, 2002 It is important to note that the statistical analysis of the trends (MK test) was only conducted for those series having a minimum of 30 years of data.…”

Section: Trend Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface water quality in a sulfide mineral‐rich arid zone in North‐Central Chile: Learning from a complex past, addressing an uncertain future

Flores

Núñez

Oyarzún

et al. 2016

Hydrological Processes

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This study presents an analysis of up to 30 years of hydrological variables and selected water quality parameters (pH, SO4, Fe, Cu, and As) in the upper area of the Elqui River basin in North‐Central Chile. A correlation analysis determined statistically significant positive relationship for SO4‐Cu, Fe‐As, and Fe‐Cu. In terms of historical behaviour, no statistically significant trends were detected for precipitation or temperature. In contrast, for flow, there is an overall decreasing pattern for the entire area of study, although only in one case this trend was statistically significant. Along with the aforementioned analysis, a characterization of the flow‐water quality relationships is considered for the time period analyzed. Although erratic behaviours were confirmed, a negative (i.e., inverse) flow‐concentration relationship was identified for SO4, a positive (i.e., direct) relationship for Fe, and undefined relationships for As and Cu were obtained. From these analyses and based on previous studies on projections regarding climate change for the Andean region, and in particular for the upper Elqui zone, an estimation of the possible effects of the change in water regimes on water quality in the area of study is developed. It is likely that a decrease in surface flow, as a consequence of climate change could translate into improvements in water quality in terms of Fe and eventually As and Cu, but into an impairment in the case of SO4. In any case, this is a complex situation that demands special attention in the face of industrial activities that could be developed in tributaries like the Claro River, which currently play an important role in depurating or diluting contaminants in the waters of the Elqui River. Finally, it should be noted that this study addresses an issue that goes beyond the local interest and could be used as a reference to compare other transitional environments containing sulphide ores or areas of hydrothermal alterations, which are considered to be highly vulnerable to climate change and variability.

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“…Among the estimation methods for catchment-scale hydrogeological characteristics, flow recession analysis is an effective technique with a relatively high developmental potential [7][8][9][10]. This method has been commonly used in previous studies that have investigated the relationships between groundwater storage and streamflow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogeological Parameter Determination in the Southern Catchments of Taiwan by Flow Recession Method

Huang

Yeh

2018

Water

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The understanding of hydrogeological characteristics and groundwater flow processes in aquifers is crucial for the determination of sustainable groundwater resource development as well as hydrological management and planning. In the past, information on hydrogeological characteristics was mainly acquired through point field measurement such as borehole geophysical techniques and field aquifer hydraulic testing. However, in view of the cost limitations and scale applicability of these methods, low-flow recession analysis techniques that utilize streamflow data can be used as alternative low-cost methods to reversely back-calculate hydrogeological parameters based on the hydrological processes by which groundwater from aquifers is naturally discharged to rivers. We chose Southern Taiwan as the study area for the estimation of the recession index (K), which is representative of catchment discharge behavior during both the dry and wet seasons, to determine seasonal differences in the aquifer flow regime and to estimate the following three hydrogeological parameters: hydraulic conductivity (k), specific yield (S y ), and transmissivity (T). Based on the field test reports of the locations of groundwater observational wells on the Chianan and Pingtung plains, the study area was divided into the Chianan sub-area (Zengwun, Yanshui, and Erren river basins) and the Kaoping sub-area (Kaoping, Donggang, and Linbian river basins). The estimation results of the present study were compared to the field test results. The results showed significant differences in the recession index K between the dry and wet seasons. Slight differences between the estimated hydrogeological parameters and the field test results were also observed for the two sub-areas because of differences in scale. Furthermore, regional differences in the estimation results were found to be consistent with the distribution of geological structures, which indicates a high degree of feasibility in the application of flow recession methods for catchment-scale hydrogeological parameter determination.

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Where does the water go? Understanding geohydrological behaviour of Andean catchments in south-central Chile

Cited by 11 publications

References 34 publications

Andean Mountain Groundwater, Drinking Water Sources, and Vulnerability: A Case Study in Central Chile

Andean Mountain Groundwater, Drinking Water Sources, and Vulnerability: A Case Study in Central Chile

Surface water quality in a sulfide mineral‐rich arid zone in North‐Central Chile: Learning from a complex past, addressing an uncertain future

Hydrogeological Parameter Determination in the Southern Catchments of Taiwan by Flow Recession Method

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