Reconnesaince of chemically vulnerable areas of an aquifer under arid conditions with agricultural uses

Aurora Mendieta-Mendoza, Marusia Rentería-Villalobos, David Chávez-Flores, Eduardo Santellano-Estrada, Carmelo Pinedo-Álvarez and Víctor Hugo Ramos-Sánchez

Agricultural Water Management, 2020, vol. 233, issue C

Abstract: Agriculture is one of most important economic activities that requires large amounts of water, which, in addition to changes in climate, presents a major impact on the water availability. Excess of salt and nutrient concentrations build up damages to soil such as reduced drainage and increase in anoxic conditions in the root zone, as well as decreasing productivity and usable farm lands. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the chemical vulnerability of an aquifer in arid conditions with a high level of extraction through the detection of risk zones and potential subregions of different risks. An evaluation of the quality of the groundwater was performed, as a reconnaissance prior to more detailed studies, in which samples of 30 wells were analyzed to determine physical-chemical parameters (recorded in situ), dissolved chemical species (UV–vis spectrophotometry), and elemental content (X-ray fluorescence spectrophotometry). Concentrations of TDS, as well as Ca, Mg, S, Cl, and As determined in the water under analysis exceeded the limit established for water for consumption and irrigation. It is suggests that the origin of the elemental composition is mainly due to the mineral composition of the aquifer sediments. The wells were classified in three groups located in different zones, based on: a) alkaline earth elements, b) halogens, c) dissolved ions. Water salinity is mainly composed by sulphates and, a lesser extent, by hydrochloric salts from leaching of evaporites. Furthermore, the highest chemical vulnerability are located from central to north zone, where the soils showed crop leaching requirement by above of threshold value for pecan crops, one of the major agricultural products of the valley. In conclusion, both the salinity and the high level of water extraction for agriculture, combined with the arid conditions, are provoking an increase in contents of some chemical species in soil of crops. The immediate consequences are related to a reduction in the agricultural production and, therefore, a decrease in the productive competitiveness.

Keywords: Arid zone; Chemical species; Spatial distribution; Groundwater (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:233:y:2020:i:c:s0378377419323212

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106100

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