Implications of agricultural land use for sustainability of gravity fed water distribution systems relying on natural springs in the Alto Beni Region of Bolivia
Abstract
Gravity-fed distribution systems from natural springs are frequently used as a method for providing drinking water to developing communities throughout the world. They are seen as an appropriate technology for their relatively simple operation and maintenance requirements. Spring discharge, however, depends on recharge rates in the spring’s catchment area, and the storage and distribution system must be designed with this potentially non-stationary input in mind. The dependence of recharge rates on land use varies with slope, soil type, vegetation, and humidity of the region. Therefore, in many developing communities where there is little watershed monitoring, little is known about how changes in land use may result in variability or long term trends in spring flow. Appropriate, low cost methods that can be carried out with local knowledge and labor are required for assessing the sustainability of natural springs as sources of drinking water in local settings, especially where land use is rapidly changing. We present results from an analysis evaluating the sustainability of discharge from springs supplying gravity-fed water systems in the Alto Beni region of Bolivia, where land use is rapidly changing from forest to agriculture. This analysis is accomplished using appropriate data collection methods with the assistance of local technicians and could be readily transferred to other watershed studies in developing communities. The study involves eleven local watersheds with varying percentage of land use devoted to agriculture area. Preliminary results show that discharge variability is higher in watersheds with more agriculture, suggesting that recharge rates in the region decrease with increased land area devoted to agriculture.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2009
- Bibcode:
- 2009AGUFM.H11D0833F
- Keywords:
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- 1834 HYDROLOGY / Human impacts;
- 1879 HYDROLOGY / Watershed