Hydrological response to meteorological drought: a case study in La Plata Basin.

OLGA PENALBA; JUAN ANTONIO RIVERA

Seattle

Conferencia; 25th Conference on Hydrology - 91st American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting; 2011

American Meteorological Society

The quantitative knowledge of the properties of droughts in a region is an important aspect of the planning and management of water resources. This work analyzes the relationship between meteorological droughts and hydrological droughts for a specific location over Uruguay River, belonging to La Plata Basin (LPB), one of the largest basins in the world. The basin generates around 70% of the Gross National Product of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and has a population of over 100 million inhabitants. The LPB is also one of the major producers of hydroelectric power in the world, therefore, extreme low flows are critical for hydroelectric production and water resources management in the region.