Estimation of recharge variation in the coastal aquifer in Mar de las Pampas, Argentina, based on land cover changes

The aim of this paper is to quantify forested land expansion and its effects on groundwater availability, in Mar de las Pampas town, Villa Gesell District, Argentina. Based on satellite imagery and aerial photographs, through detailed hand-digitizing of land-cover classes in the study area, a multi-temporal analysis of land-cover was made for the years of 1975, 1997 and 2014. Water balances were carried out from precipitation data, considering the distinctive hydrologic properties of the soil, in order to determine recharge values for each land-cover class. The results show a 26% reduction in recharge during the 1975-2014 period; this should be taken into account for planning a sustainable use of groundwater resource, in a locality that is currently under growth.