Environmental assessment of water management and urban growth: a case study in an Argentina Pampean plain’s basin

ROSARIO SOLEDAD BARRANQUERO; MARCELA GUERRERO; ROXANA BANDA NORIEGA; VÍCTOR ALEJANDRO RUIZ DE GALARRETA; AUGUSTO MEZZINA; LAURA ESTEFANÍA PAZ; ROCÍO FERNÁNDEZ SAN JUAN; MARCELO VARNI; AGUSTINA CORTELEZZI

Applied Geography

Elsevier

Año: 2023

0143-6228

Urbanization has been identified as one of the issues with the greatest environmental impacts on water resources. This study aims to make an environmental diagnosis of urban water management with a systematic approach in a basin with great hydrogeological complexity. We have analyzed urban water management in the Langueyú basin, Argentina, in the period comprehended between 1940 and 2015 in which the city has had a disordered urban growth. We conclude that urban water management in the Langueyú basin has not been carried out with a systemic approach, and also, it has not considered the interrelationships between the different subsystems that the urban water cycle includes. This management has been based mainly on the application of structural measures. The main non-structural measure carried out has been to expand the regulations and some neighbor’s struggle movements. Other non-structural measures promoted by several actors involved in urban water management, such as authorities, should be carried out in order to raise awareness amongst the population on the importance of water resource protection, especially in areas with hydrogeological limitations.