Water table variations in the hyperarid Atacama Desert: Role of the increasing groundwater extraction in the pampa del tamarugal (Northern Chile)
Author
dc.contributor.author
Viguier, Benoît
Author
dc.contributor.author
Jourde, Hervé
Author
dc.contributor.author
Leonardi, Véronique
Author
dc.contributor.author
Daniele, Linda
Author
dc.contributor.author
Batiot-Guilhe, Christelle
Author
dc.contributor.author
Favreau, Guillaume
Author
dc.contributor.author
De Montety, Véronique
Admission date
dc.date.accessioned
2019-10-30T15:40:17Z
Available date
dc.date.available
2019-10-30T15:40:17Z
Publication date
dc.date.issued
2019
Cita de ítem
dc.identifier.citation
Journal of Arid Environments, Volumen 168,
Identifier
dc.identifier.issn
1095922X
Identifier
dc.identifier.issn
01401963
Identifier
dc.identifier.other
10.1016/j.jaridenv.2019.05.007
Identifier
dc.identifier.uri
https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/172579
Abstract
dc.description.abstract
In the hyperarid Atacama Desert (Northern Chile), the economic and social development is supported using fossil groundwater. The groundwater extraction (GWE)has significantly increased over the last 30 years, reaching ∼4.2 m3.s−1 in 2018 (+1890%)at the Pampa del Tamarugal Aquifer (PTA). But opposite assumptions lead to uncertainties concerning the role of the increasing anthropogenic pressures and the ephemeral recharge events in the water table (WT)variations. This paper analyzes: (i)the long-term groundwater levels changes between the late 1950s (post Saltpeter Work)and the early 2010s, and (ii)the short-term response of groundwater levels, based on the analysis of the 1998–2018 WT time series at 10 observation boreholes. Results indicate that the WT variations in space and time are strongly related to the anthropogenic pressure changes. Since the late 1950s, the WT is declining in the major part of the PTA. Nevertheless, local reduction of GWE together with ephemeral recharge events in alluvial fans allowed local WT rises. But after a large GWE increase (+114%)between 2004 and 2006, all observation boreholes highlight a general WT decline (−9.8 ± 5.8 cm.yr−1). Over the years, anthropogenic pressures became the dominant factor of the WT variations and led to overuse the aquifer.