Abstract

PALACIOS-VELEZ, Oscar Luis  and  ESCOBAR-VILLAGRAN, Bernardo Samuel. Sustainable Crop Irrigation and Overexploitation of Aquifers. Tecnol. cienc. agua [online]. 2016, vol.7, n.2, pp.5-16. ISSN 2007-2422.

This article discusses the basic premises of "sustainable development" and mentions some of the enormous challenges that need to be addressed to achieve such development. A study by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Tellus Institute of Boston (Great Transition. The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead) presents three possible scenarios related to this topic: a) conventional, b) catastrophic and c) a "great transition." The need and importance of crop irrigation in the majority of regions in the country is then discussed, and the hydraulic infrastructure built up to 2013 is summarized. The main challenges involved in crop irrigation are also mentioned, including: a) lack of social awareness about the real value of water on the part of authorities as well as agricultural and urban users; b) changes in the amount and quality of runoff from rivers; c) overexploitation of aquifers, d) salinization of soils, e) contamination of aquifers and surface water bodies and f) conflicts between agricultural water users and industrial and municipal water. The increasingly intensified use of groundwater has resulted in an overexploitation of many aquifers, although it is difficult to correctly evaluate the degree of overexploitation. Two methods to evaluate this are presented -hydrological balance and evolution of groundwater levels- based on the example of the Texcoco aquifer. Lastly, some recommendations are presented to address the problem of overexploitation of aquifers.

Keywords : Sustainable development; crop irrigation; overexploitation of aquifers.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )