Hydrogeological Conceptual Model of La Villa River Watershed, Republic of Panama Maria G
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University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Honors Scholar Theses Honors Scholar Program Spring 4-29-2016 Hydrogeological Conceptual Model of La Villa River Watershed, Republic of Panama Maria G. Castrellon Romero Honors Program, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses Part of the Environmental Engineering Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons, Hydrology Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons Recommended Citation Castrellon Romero, Maria G., "Hydrogeological Conceptual Model of La Villa River Watershed, Republic of Panama" (2016). Honors Scholar Theses. 545. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses/545 University of Connecticut School of Engineering Environmental Engineering Program Undergraduate Honors Thesis Hydrogeological Conceptual Model of La Villa River Watershed, Republic of Panama Maria Gabriela Castrellon Romero April 29th, 2016 i University of Connecticut School of Engineering Environmental Engineering Program Undergraduate Honors Thesis Hydrogeological Conceptual Model of La Villa River Watershed, Republic of Panama Thesis Advisor __________________________________________________ Dr. Amvrossios C. Bagtzoglou Student __________________________________________________ María Gabriela Castrellón Romero ii For my grandfather, the first to show me the beauty of the natural environment surrounding us iii Executive Summary Groundwater in Panama is a valuable and poorly understood resource that has been exploited for more than 40 years, especially in an area of the country known as the Dry Arc Region. Due to population growth, the need to understand and characterize this resource has become very important. The exploitation of groundwater in the Dry Arc Region increased 75% from 2002 to 2010 reaching a total value of 700,000 m3/day or 185 million gallons per day (MGD) (Souifer, 2010). Climate change has caused a lengthening of the dry season, which has reduced precipitation and streamflow, resulting in surface water scarcity during this period. Nevertheless, it has not been possible to determine the extent to which groundwater sources have been affected by these factors since systematic monitoring of groundwater levels has not been implemented in Panama. With support from National Institution of Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation (IDAAN), information was gathered to develop a hydrogeological conceptual model of the La Villa River Watershed, located in the Dry Arc Region of Panama. Starting from May 2015, groundwater levels have been measured on a monthly basis in 37 inactive IDAAN wells within the selected watershed. From the observations it was determined that the groundwater flow is, in general, perpendicular to the river in the upper watershed and parallel to the river in the lower watershed. Also, three possible recharge areas were identified: The areas surrounding the towns of Pesé and Los Pozos in the province of Herrera, and the area surrounding the towns of Llano de Piedras and La Mesa in the province of Los Santos. Water table in these towns increased significantly during the study period (May to October 2015). In general, water table response time to precipitation change is about one to two months. Drilling logs obtained from IDAAN’s archives were analyzed to construct cross-sections of the lower part of the watershed. This information revealed the existence of an important layer of tuffaceous agglomerate underlying the lower portion of the watershed and also illustrates the region’s complex geology. Finally, it is noted that in order to quantify the amount of groundwater available for extraction in La Villa Watershed, a mathematical groundwater model needs to be constructed. Among other thing, such a model will provide the necessary tools to sustainably manage the resource, assess contamination risk and, if needed, evaluate the feasibility of artificial aquifer recharge. iv Resumen Ejecutivo La región del Arco Seco en Panamá ha utilizado aguas subterráneas por más de 40 años, y a medida que aumenta la población, este recurso se vuelve cada vez más importante. En la pasada década, del 2002 al 2010, la explotación de aguas subterráneas aumentó un 75% hasta alcanzar volúmenes de extracción en el orden de 700,000 m3/día (Souifer, 2010). El cambio climático ha ocasionado un incremento en la duración de la estación seca, reducción de la precipitación, y reducción en el caudal de los ríos; como consecuencia se ha generado una escasez en el volumen disponible de agua superficial. Las aguas subterráneas también se han visto mermadas en los últimos años, sin embargo, es imposible calcular con precisión el efecto que han tenido la escasez de lluvias y el aumento de los volúmenes de extracción debido a que en Panamá no se ha implementado la medición sistemática del nivel piezométricos en pozos de monitoreo en ninguna región del país. Con apoyo del Instituto de Alcantarillados y Acueductos Nacionales (IDAAN), se desarrolló un modelo hidrogeológico conceptual de la cuenca del Río La Villa. Desde mayo de 2015 se han estado realizando mediciones mensuales de niveles freáticos (piezométricos) en 37 pozos inactivos del IDAAN, seleccionados en la cuenca. Se determinó que la dirección predominante de flujo subterráneo es perpendicular al Río La Villa en la parte alta de la cuenca y paralela al río en zonas bajas de la cuenca. Se identificaron tres posibles áreas de recarga en la cuenca: Los corregimientos de Pesé y Los Pozos en la provincia de Herrera y las áreas aledañas a los poblados de Llano de Piedras y La Mesa de Macaracas en la provincia de Los Santos. Dichas áreas presentaron un incremento en los niveles de agua subterránea en octubre con respecto a mayo. En general, los niveles de aguas subterráneas tardan uno o dos meses en responder a la precipitación. Se utilizó información de registros de perforación del departamento de fuentes subterráneas de IDAAN para construir perfiles litológicos de Chitré y de la cuenca baja del Río La Villa. Los mismos revelan la existencia de una capa importante de aglomerados tobáceos e ilustran la complejidad geológica del área de estudio. Finalmente, se plantea la necesidad de desarrollar un modelo numérico, con el fin de cuantificar el volumen sostenible de explotación de las subterráneas en la cuenca del Río La Villa. Entre muchos otros propósitos, esto ayudará a gestionar mejor el recurso, evaluar el riesgo de contaminación y la factibilidad de la recarga artificial de acuíferos. v Acknowledgements Firstly I would like to thank Dr. Allison Mackay, who introduced me to the wonderful world of groundwater during my second semester of college and was a role model for me at the very beginning of my career. I would like to thank Dr. Gonzalo Pulido, Project Supervisor from IDAAN Panama, who helped me put the proposal for this project together. A very special thanks to Dr. Amvrossios C. Bagtzoglou, my thesis advisor, who guided and helped me build the story presented in this Thesis. Thanks to Melissa Berkey for helping me write a proposal for the IDEA Grant, and thanks to the Office of Undergraduate Research at the University of Connecticut for granting me the IDEA Award with which I was able to fund the field work for this project. Thanks to Julia Guardia, Director of IDAAN for supporting my project. Thanks to Dr. Octavio Smith, GIS Analyst and Dr. Valentina Opolenko, Hydrogeologist from CATHALAC; Dr. Christine Kirchhoff, Honors Advisor, Dr. Gary Robbins, Professor of Hydrogeology and Dr. Amy Burnicki, GIS Professor at the University of Connecticut, for answering all my questions and providing me with the necessary background knowledge that I needed to complete this project. Thanks to the members of the Department of Groundwater Sources at IDAAN Panama: Iván Cedeño, Director; Edgardo Vergara, Geologist; Gilberto Sánchez, Manuel Medina, and all Field Assistants that helped me gather data; Mathilde Le Goff and Noemie Le Heurte, Interns. vi Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... iii Resumen Ejecutivo ........................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 The Dry Arc Region of Panama ............................................................................................ 1 1.2 Use and Management of Groundwater in Panama ................................................................ 2 1.3 El Niño Phenomenon and its effects in Panama ................................................................... 3 1.4 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Project Proposed .................................................................................................................... 6 2. La Villa River Watershed ........................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Location and Topography ....................................................................................................