Study and Evaluation of Surface Water Resources Affected by Ancient and Illegal Mining in the Upper Part of the Milluni Micro-Basin, Bolivia

Paola Andrea Alvizuri-Tintaya, Marco Rios-Ruiz, Jaime Lora-Garcia, Juan Ignacio Torregrosa-López and Vanesa G. Lo-Iacono-Ferreira
Additional contact information
Paola Andrea Alvizuri-Tintaya: Project Management, Innovation and Sustainability Research Center (PRINS), Alcoy Campus, Universitat Politècnica de València, Plaza Ferrándiz y Carbonell, s/n, 03801 Alcoy, Spain
Marco Rios-Ruiz: Departamento de Ingeniería Medio Ambiente, Universidad Católica Boliviana “San Pablo”, La Paz, Bolivia
Jaime Lora-Garcia: Research Institute for Industrial, Radiophysical and Environmental Safety (ISIRYM), Alcoy Campus, Universitat Politècnica de València, Plaza Ferrándiz y Carbonell, s/n, 03690 Alcoy, Spain
Juan Ignacio Torregrosa-López: Research Institute for Industrial, Radiophysical and Environmental Safety (ISIRYM), Alcoy Campus, Universitat Politècnica de València, Plaza Ferrándiz y Carbonell, s/n, 03690 Alcoy, Spain
Vanesa G. Lo-Iacono-Ferreira: Project Management, Innovation and Sustainability Research Center (PRINS), Alcoy Campus, Universitat Politècnica de València, Plaza Ferrándiz y Carbonell, s/n, 03801 Alcoy, Spain

Resources, 2022, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: One of the factors with the most significant impact due to pollution caused by mining activities is water. Surface water resources are limited, and in many cases, they are the primary water source for consumption; thus, its quality is a fundamental subject of study. The traditional way of studying water quality is to measure parameters and compare the results with tables of values established in the regulations. The quality of drinking water is characterized and controlled. However, this traditional comparison method may be subjective and insufficient to classify water quality as safe. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and complement the conventional monitoring, linking physicochemical analysis with remote perception. The different variables analyzed can be integrated and result in much more complete water quality indices, achieving the evolution of the monitoring programs of the water quality of the surface bodies. This research combines remote sensing with traditional monitoring to obtain a more robust and affordable indicator, resulting in a study of the central water bodies of Milluni. The main finding—the alarming contamination in the Milluni Chico and Milluni Grande lagoons—provides more accurate information to decision-makers to improve water management in Bolivia.

Keywords: water quality monitoring; remote sensing; geographic information systems; safe water; heavy metals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/11/4/36/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/11/4/36/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:11:y:2022:i:4:p:36-:d:784023

Access Statistics for this article

Resources is currently edited by Ms. Donchian Ma

More articles in Resources from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().