Author(s): Seoane; S. Rafael; Fattor; A. Claudio
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Keywords: Water resources; Hydrology; Extreme flow discharges; Environmental risk
Abstract: This paper deals with the selection of hydrological methods that can be used for the design of small hydraulic structures destined to improve the possibilities to develop sustainable projects of populations located in poor regions, with special emphasys in the identification of water resources in mountain basins. Almost two thirds of the surface of Argentina is arid or semi-arid, being able to identify isolated rural villages which are not properly supplied by water. This article presents some guidelines considered for the preliminary project of collection and distribution works for the community of San Isidro (Salta), whose 350 inhabitants are located at 2,800 m above sea level in the northwestern area of Argentina. A methodology for the identification of the adequate models for proceeding to the hydrological computation that are necessary to quantify run-off and underground water resources is proposed in this paper. Different methodologies of calculation for the estimation of extreme flow discharges (minimum and maximum) in a region with scarce hydrological and meteorological information were evaluated. At this stage, only simple methods were considered because the implementation of complex methods would demand data and investments, which are beyond the scope of this project. The impact of El Nino over the annual floods on several rivers in Bermejo basin for the importance over hydraulic design parameters was analyzed. An important conclusion of this work was that the hydrological and hydraulic studies allowed defining a basic project of a work of water collection from the sub-stream bed that guarantees the water supply during the whole year attending human consumption and basic agriculture needs. The proposed methodology has allowed defining the scope of different criteria of hydrological calculation in basins like San Isidro catchment basin, where any technical answer must considere the social and cultural issues of these communities.
Year: 2009