Groundwater and Global Change in the Western Mediterranean Area by Maria Luisa Calvache Carlos Duque & David Pulido-Velazquez

Author:Maria Luisa Calvache, Carlos Duque & David Pulido-Velazquez
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

The Doñana aquifer spreads over 2,600 km2 in the provinces of Huelva and Seville (southwest Spain). This territory depends to a large extent on its groundwater for water supply to towns and crop irrigation. The natural area of Doñana is located over this aquifer, and it includes a protected area (National Park, Natural Park and Biological Reserve) of almost 1,080 km2. Many of the ecosystems in Doñana depend on the groundwater, which are found at a very shallow depth over wide areas. The aquifers also feed numerous seasonal and permanent ponds and the main streams in the area (Olías and Rodriguez-Rodriguez 2013). The groundwater extraction from the Doñana area has caused a hydrological impact in some parts of the park, as different organizations have been warning for several years (Custodio et al. 2009). There is evidence that the water table fall, as a consequence of groundwater extraction, is causing changes in the vegetation, desiccation and a decrease in the pond water levels located near a coastal resort, as well as in the amount of water entering in streams (Serrano and Serrano 1996; Muñoz-Reinoso 2001; Serrano and Zunzunegui 2008; Custodio et al. 2009; Manzano et al. 2009).

Doñana aquifer is formed by two units: one confined and the other one unconfined. The studied ponds lie over the unconfined aquifer, classified by Vela (1984) as “Dune aquifer”. It has a surface of 90 km2, and extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the marshes. Its major components are permeable aeolian sands, with presence of estuarine clays and silts. An impervious bed of marine marls delineates the base of the aquifer. This heterogeneity in the aquifer composition makes difficult the establishment of the precise relationship between surface and groundwater.

The objective of this study is to reach a better characterization of the hydrological functioning of these sand dune ponds through the study of their daily water balances and hydrochemistry. The data period selected in this study was from January 2015 to December 2016 (two years).

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