Determining groundwater availability and aquifer recharge using GIS in a highly urbanized watershed.
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Date
2021
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Abstract
Extensive urbanized areas, characterized by waterproofed soils, increase runoff, which reduces the rainwater
infiltration into the ground. However, water, sewer, and rainwater distribution systems leak, as there is excess
irrigation in green areas, resulting in anthropic recharging in urban aquifers larger than in rural areas with
equivalent climates. This scenario occurs in the Upper Tietˆe Watershed (UTW), an area of 5,868 km2 that drains
the principal rivers of the Sao ̃ Paulo’s metropolitan region in Brazil, where groundwater plays a complementary
role for domestic, industrial, and agricultural supplies, totalizing extraction rates higher than 11 m3
/s. In this
paper, a Geographical Information System (GIS) was established to assess regional groundwater availabilities
using adaptations of classic recharge methods such as soil water budget calculations and estimation of minimum
sustainable river flow. For this, a surface runoff map, based on soil and slope terrain data, was evaluated using
the information on water and sanitation infrastructure and meteorological data. We found that recharge in urban
areas (with water and sewer mains) was 437 mm/yr and 106–407 mm/yr in rural areas. Considering the need to
maintain a minimum historical flow of 20 m3
/s in the hydrographic basin of the Tietˆe River, the total exploitable
groundwater is 33 m3
/s. The compilation of various GIS methods can help decision-makers develop alternative
water security management plans in complex urbanized-regions such as in the metropolis of Sao ̃ Paulo.
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Keywords
Water balance model, Brazil
Citation
CONICELLI, B. P. et al. Determining groundwater availability and aquifer recharge using GIS in a highly urbanized watershed. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 106, 2021. Disponível em: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981120306362>. Acesso em: 29 abr. 2022.