The Peri-Urban Interface: Hydrological Effects of Anthropogenic Pressure

CASCO, M. ADELA; CAROL, ELEONORA; DELGADO, MARÍA ISABEL; MAC DONAGH, M. ELICIA; CASCO, M. ADELA; CAROL, ELEONORA; DELGADO, MARÍA ISABEL; MAC DONAGH, M. ELICIA

Pollution Research

EM International

Lugar: Pune, India; Año: 2018 vol. 37 p. 83 - 91

0257-8050

The province of Buenos Aires (Argentina) is one of the mainproductive areas of the country. In the Northeast of the province landscape is shapedby a mosaic of rural and urban sectors; here is placed the Cinturón HortícolaPlatense integrated by a set of watersheds with different level ofanthropogenic modification. The aim of this work was to evaluate how land usecover change process, derived from anthropogenic pressure, affects thehydrological and environmental characteristics of flat land watersheds; forthis purpose, it was chosen as case study the peri-urban watershed of ElPescado Creek, located in Argentina?s Pampas region.  This watershed has historically presented the leastanthropogenic impact, but nowadays shows evident productive and real estateexpansion. Land use change was evaluatedwith satellite images; current land use mainly includes urbanization, cattleraising and intensive agriculture. Surface water chemistry was determined by samplingdifferent sections of the creek, groundwater sampling was based on groundwatermonitoring wells distributed along the watershed. Physical-chemical waterparameters were determined in situ, major ions were determinedin laboratory under standardized methods. Results were compared with hydrochemicalprevious studies (when the whole watershed was characterized as rural, withextensive livestock farming), allowing to conclude that the most important quantifiablemodifications from an ecohydrological perspective are being registered in theupper watershed. In this area is where land use is turning to intensivehorticulture (greenhouses), with no planning and minimal precautions about itspossible impact on natural resources. Results obtained constitutes a valuabletool for the generation of management strategies not only for this particularwatershed, but could also be extrapolated to areas with similar territorialdynamics.