Abstract

HERNANDEZ-JUAREZ, Rodrigo Alejandro; MARTINEZ RIVERA, Luis Manuel; PENUELA-AREVALO, Liliana Andrea  and  RIVERA-REYES, Samuel. Identification of Potential Groundwater Recharge and Discharge Areas in the Ayuquila-Armeria River Basin Using GIS and Multi-Criteria Analysis. Invest. Geog [online]. 2020, n.101, e59892.  Epub Oct 02, 2020. ISSN 2448-7279.  https://doi.org/10.14350/rig.59892.

This research seeks to identify groundwater recharge and discharge areas in the administrative aquifers of the Ayuquila-Armeria river basin in the states of Jalisco and Colima, Mexico. The Ayuquila-Armeria river basin is one of the 15 most important of the 100 rivers running across the Pacific slope, and is among the 43 most important rivers at the country level. The regional climate is warm-humid in lowlands and subhumid temperate in highlands, with a summer rainy season (June to October) and a dry season the rest of the year. The basin shows a striking relief: from sea level to 4260 m a.s.l. at Nevado de Colima. The identification of these areas was based on a multi-criteria analysis of surface indicators of recharge and discharge areas supported by the flow systems theory (FST). This allows a systemic view of the environment, integrating various elements of nature, in addition to acknowledging groundwater and geological agent that causes a wide variety of processes and manifestations on the surface. The integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) made possible to evaluate the potential recharge/ discharge at the regional level by analyzing physical variables such as lithology, soil, relief, slope, vegetation, precipitation, and a topographic humidity index. In the study area, the territory with high recharge potential ranges from 21% to 80%; the area with low and very low recharge potential, from 4% to 30%. The main potential recharge areas are located in the upper portion of mid-elevation and low mountains covered by pine-oak, oak, and tropical deciduous forests, and grasslands, and to a lesser extent, fir and mountain cloud forests. Soil types include mainly Regosol, Leptosol, Cambisol, Luvisol, Andosol, Umbrisol, and Phaeozem in slopes of 15%-30% covering units of rhyolitic tuff, andesite-basalt, andesite, lahar-pyroclastic rock, granite-granite diorite, and limestone. These areas are located mainly in Sierra de Cacoma-Manantl, Sierra Verde, Sierra de Quila, Sierra de Tapalpa, and the Nevado de Colima volcanic complex. For its part, discharge areas are found mainly in the coastal plains of Jalisco and Colima, associated with Calcisol, Arenosol, Fluvisol, Planosol, Gleysol, Solonchak, and Vertisol soils, and with with halophytic-hydrophytic grassland, bulrush, and mangrove vegetation. These are located in inlandlake areas in San Marcos, Sayula, and Zapotlán. Other discharge areas are the plains and intermontane valleys of Union de Tula and Autlán-El Grullo, as well as the bottom of V-valleys in certain areas of the basin. These can act as natural hydraulic boundaries of flow systems, limiting the amount of groundwater in each zone. The lateral alternation of recharge and discharge areas implies that the water recharged in a particular region may flow to a number of discharge areas, i.e., the water discharged in a given region may come from different regions. The above has important implications in the estimation of the availability estimated from the water balance, since groundwater may flow to more than one discharge area within the same “administrative” aquifer. This type of studies are a first approach providing innovative evidence to the systemic study of groundwater, i.e., the recharge-discharge areas. Their application positively supplements the results of the water balance used in the official evaluation of groundwater availability in Mexico.

Keywords : groundwater; flow systems; aquifers; recharge; discharge; Ayuquila river.

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