Determinación del caudal ambiental y su relación con variables indicadoras de calidad del recurso hídrico

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to determine the environmental flow in the sub-basin of the river “Las Piedras” and its correlation with different physicochemical variables and indexes of water quality. The environmental flow determination using an approximation to the methodology for determining the environmental flow of Colombian licensed projects, which are those that, according to the law and regulations, can lead to severe deterioration to renewable natural resources or introduce significant or noticeable changes in the landscape (MAVDT, 2010) was initially performed. Next, having the environmental flow established for each month and broken down by hydrologic condition (children and Normal) the correlation between these, in-situ measurements (pH, conductivity, DO, turbidity, TDS, T, and absorption factor of the stream) was estimated in order to estimate the quality the water would have maintaining the proposed environmental flows, using SPSS for this purpose. In addition,an assessment of biotic integrity, to establish the ecological status of the watershed based on the macro invertebrate community, was carried out. As a result, the environmental flow for each month and for the three weather conditions was determined. Likewise, the direct relationship between the assimilation factor and the current flow could also be observed thus establishing that the factor assimilation can be a tool that allows the determination of periods of increased vulnerability to extreme events that may occur in the sub-basin. Similarly, it was possible to estimate the physical variables (conductivity and TDS) with which the presented significant correlation, which allows having a suitable relationship between the quantity and quality of water resources. Additionally it was possible to establish the state of the quality of water resources in the studied area based on a study carried out dealing with the macro invertebrate community as bioindicators.