Aplicación del índice de uso de agua para la priorización de reglamentación de corrientes hidrográficas en la cuenca del río Apulo

Abstract

The Apulo River basin, located in several municipalities of Cundinamarca, is characterized by a high water demand due to factors such as population density, agricultural activities, non-stabled livestock, tourism, and industrial production, which increases pressure on the water system and generates conflicts over access to the resource during the dry season. To ensure the sustainable and equitable access of users in this basin to the resource, the water courses (Hydrographic Units level I and II) with the greatest vulnerability to source depletion were identified using the Water Use Index (IUA). This monitoring criterion, defined in the National Policy for Integrated Water Resource Management (PNGIRH), allows prioritizing the regulation of vulnerable water courses in the basin, being used by government organizations such as the Autonomous Corporation of Cundinamarca to evaluate water supply and demand. The basin’s supply of the 23 streams in the Paulo River was determined through the rainfall-runoff method using the geomatic tool HEC – Geo RAS, for processing cartographic information such as surface coverages, soil units, and climatological data from nine stations throughout the basin, with data series spanning 10 years. The water demand was determined by characterizing the records of current concessions granted in the basin by the Autonomous Corporation of Cundinamarca, which allocate flow based on the consumption modules adopted through CAR Agreement No. 004 of 2016. Subsequently, the supply-demand relationship was estimated using the IUA (Water Use Index), which corresponds to the amount of water used by different user sectors over a specific period (annual, monthly) and per spatial unit of the hydrographic subzone, in relation to the available surface water supply for the same time and spatial units. Five streams with critical IUA were identified, which are susceptible to flow regulation projects.