Drought in the oasis of Central Western Argentina

BONINSEGNA, J.A.; MONTAÑA, ELMA

Vulnerability and Adaptation to Drought

University of Calgary Press

Lugar: Calgary; Año: 2016; p. 327 - 348

This chapter discusses droughts and episodes of water scarcity in the contextof the Mendoza River basin, an area in central-western Argentinawhere a dynamic agriculture emerges in an arid complex Mediterraneanclimate. The Mendoza River basin is similar to many dryland territorialconfigurations on both sides of the central Andes or to the Palliser Trianglein the Canadian Prairies, where ?green oases? emerge as a result ofhuman-built irrigation systems. As in many semi-arid and arid regionsof the Americas, the sensitivity of the regional economy and populationto climate variability and the new threats of global warming lead to questionsof how to reduce vulnerability of agricultural producers, integrateclimate change into their activities, and foster the best possible adaptivestrategies for facing inevitable climate change consequences.The chapter assumes the perspective that climate and water-relatedissues should be understood in the perspective of coupled natural andsocial systems. In these terms, the presence and the impacts of droughtsshould be discussed from a perspective that integrates both the naturaland social scientific views. The first section of this chapter deals with thenatural scientific perspective; it discusses the climatological conditionsthat characterize the basin and their impact on regional water scarcities.Following the conceptual approach discussed in Chapter 1, the secondsection of this chapter deals with the social dimension, focusing on thevulnerabilities of the basin and paying special attention to the social andeconomic structures of the basin in setting up variable conditions of vulnerabilityfor different producers. The third section focuses on the adaptivecapacity of these rural producers, linking this capacity to the socialand economic structures. Finally, policy implications for managing futuredroughts are discussed.Several natural and social studies, which are the main inputs to thischapter, have been carried out in the region. The natural studies have focusedon hydrological cycles, their relationship to agriculture, and thevulnerability of the region to water scarcities, which are the main constraintsto economic growth and expansion. Rainfall, runoff variability,and their relationship with large-scale circulation anomalies and differentclimate conditions have been discussed in both past (Prieto et al. 2000;Compagnucci and Vargas 1998; Rutllant and Fuenzalida 1991; Cobosand Boninsegna 1983) and more recent studies (Gonzalez and Vera 2010;Viale and Norte 2009; Vargas and Naumann 2008; Masiokas et al. 2006;Boninsegna and Delgado 2002). Past droughts have been analyzed by Villalbaet al. (2012), Christie et al. (2011), and Le Quesne et al. (2009) used treering series to reconstruct the Palmer Drought Severity Index back to year1346, providing an insight into the central Andes drought recurrence. Climatechange impacts on the Cordillera have been addressed by Bradleyet al. (2006), Nuñez (2006), Urrutia and Vuille (2009), Nuñez and Solman(2006), and Vera et al. (2006). Glacier evolution has been the subject ofseveral studies (Le Quesne et al. 2009; Bottero 2002; Luckman and Villalba2001; Leiva 1999). An estimation of the future streamflow of the SanJuan and Mendoza Rivers was made by Boninsegna and Villalba (2006a,2006b).In the region, risk and vulnerability studies have focused mainly onwater and water scarcity?related issues, as well as on the potential impactsof climate change. The historical perspective of the relationship betweenwater and society can be found in Marre (2011), Montaña (2011, 2008a,Elma Montaña and José Armando Boninsegna 3292007) and Montaña et al. (2005) while studies concerning the possiblerole of global change in altering risk patterns appear in Scott et al. (2012)and Salas et al. (2012). Vulnerability has been addressed by Masiokas etal. (2013), Montaña (2012a, 2012b) and Diaz et al. (2011). New ways ofthinking about conservancy ethics, society, and adaptation applied to thecentral Andes region are found in Montaña (2012a), Montaña and Diaz(2012) and Diaz et al. (2011). As indicated earlier, the chapter integratesthis diversity of studies.