Assessment of coastal Aquifers in Latin America and Climate Change: The WaterClima-LAC Project contribution

MARTÍNEZ, DANIEL EMILIO; MASSONE, HECTOR; HERNANDEZ A; CHACON WALTER; PHILLIPPE EDES; MIGLIORANZA KARINA SILVIA BEATRIZ; VILANOVA ESTER; QUIROZ MAURICIO; BENEGAS LAURA

Dubrovnik

Congreso; 44th Congress of the International Association of Hydrogeologitsts; 2017

IAH

The coastal areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, have been poorly integrated into socio-economic development. Many of them have been impacted by waste and polluted water, altering ecosystems and impacting human populations. Likewise, in the last decades the effects of climate change are more directly observed in these areas, highlighting the deterioration of water resources either by the marine intrusion or by the increase of extreme events that contrasts with the poor coastal territorial planning and with the demographic increase. Within the framework of the Regional Program WATERCLIMA-LAC in the context of Climate Change in the Americas Latin America and the Caribbean, is being developed the project Watershed and Coastal zones management, financed by the European Union through the EUROPEAID program. Four pilot areas of the region were chosen to develop the project. These areas are: La Paz (Baja California, Mexico), Basin of the Bajo Lempa (El Salvador), coastal area of Aquin (Haiti) and Mar del Plata (Argentina). The overall objective of the Project is to contribute to improve coastal zone management increasing resilience of Latin America and the Caribbean countries to the impacts to climate change promoting collaboration among regions, and coordination in order to carried out co-management models adapted to the effects of climate change with the purpose of contributing to an efficient, inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The coastal aquifers of each coastal area are studied focusing into two main different objectives. Groundwater flow models to apply on aquifer management have developed for the cities of Mar del Plata (Argentina) and La Paz (BC Mexico) in order to prevent seawater intrusion and evaluating the situation under the Emissions Scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP4.5. The less populated areas of the Bajo Lempa Aquifer (El Salvador) and Bajo Aquin (Haití) are being object of water quality and pesticides pollution studies, evaluating the impact of the land use changes.