Introduction:

The groundwater of the Tecamachalco Valley aquifer (TVA) is the main source of supply for productive activities in the area, a condition that has generated its overexploitation.

Objective:

To analyze the temporal variation in the static levels of the TVA from 1997 to 2016 in order to determine the level of groundwater depletion in the aquifer.

Methodology:

Historical data from the monitoring network of the Tecamachalco Groundwater Technical Committee was used, and static levels of 89 wells were recorded. The Mann-Kendall test was applied to the piezometric data and spatial analysis was incorporated with the Kriging interpolation method.

Results:

The water level in the evaluated period showed a downward trend. The static levels of the aquifer showed an average drop of 14 m; therefore, the depletion process is unsustainable if the same trend continues.

Study limitations:

There are no statistics on groundwater extraction; the existing data are inconsistent, so a non-parametric statistical test was chosen to reflect the behavior (depletion and recovery) of the monitored wells.

Originality:

There are few studies on the dynamics of TVA groundwater depletion. The combination of a statistical and a geographical method is a useful tool to show the behavior of water levels.

Conclusions:

The TVA presents a critical situation that conditions the availability and use of groundwater, which directly affects agricultural activity in the area.

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