Sustainability
of Groundwater Resources and its Indicators (Proceedings of symposium S3 held during the
Seventh IAHS Scientific Assembly at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, April 2005). IAHS
Publ. 302, 2006, 126-133.
Using performance indicators for the analysis of
water use in the Mendoza irrigated area
J. A. Morábito1, E. P. Querner2 & D. Tozzi1
1 INA & UNCuyo, Belgrano Oeste 210, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina
2 Alterra,
PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
Abstract The Province of Mendoza has more than 20% of the total irrigated land in Argentina. As the average annual rainfall is approximately 200 mm, irrigation is critical for agriculture. A storage dam was recently constructed in the Mendoza River to control the fluctuating inflow and to guarantee meeting water demand through the year. The dam will have an impact on the hydrology. The groundwater system will also be influenced and this, in turn, could have a crucial effect on parts of the irrigation area where groundwater levels are already high and salinization occurs. For the evaluation of these changes and possible mitigation measures, there is a need for performance indicators at a river basin scale that take into consideration groundwater and surface water use efficiency. The SIMGRO model was used for this assessment as it simulates water flow in the saturated zone, in the unsaturated zones and in surface water in an integrated manner. The objective was to use the SIMGRO model as a tool to evaluate the effect of hydrological changes in the irrigated area due to the construction of the storage dam. Scenarios are presented for estimated irrigation water losses and for their effect on agricultural production, by using a set of performance indicators for surface and groundwater.
Key words
evapotranspiration; groundwater; hydrological model; indicators;
irrigation; salinization