Determining groundwater availability and aquifer recharge using GIS in a highly urbanized watershed

Author(s)

Conicelli, Bruno ^{[1, 2]} ; Hirata, Ricardo ^[2] ; Galvao, Paulo ^[3] ; Bernardino, Mariana ^[2] ; Simonato, Mateus ^[2] ; Abreu, Marcio Costa ^[4] ; Aranda, Nataly ^{[5, 1]} ; Terada, Rafael ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Reg Amazon Ikiam, Tena, Napo - Ecuador

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Geosci, Groundwater Res Ctr CEPAS USP, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Minas Gerais, Dept Geol, Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil

^[4] Geol Survey Brazil CPRM, Goiania, Go - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Astron Geophys & Atmospher Sci, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of South American Earth Sciences; v. 106, MAR 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

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 Tiete Watershed (UTW), an area of 5,868 km(2) 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 m(3)/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 m(3)/s in the hydrographic basin of the Tiete River, the total exploitable groundwater is 33 m(3)/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. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/05697-2 - Groundwater management in Recife: aligning the private and public uses in a perspective of global climate change
• Grantee: Ricardo César Aoki Hirata
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research