Los Santos Province, Panama /There is a lot of fresh water under our feet. So much so, that groundwater accounts for nearly a third of the world’s total fresh water for domestic uses, agriculture, livestock, and other industries. We are talking about a resource that, if properly exploited, can provide further social, economic and environmental benefits, according to United Nations World Water Development Report 2022.
However, the first step to properly managing groundwater sources is to obtain more basic information about them, such as locating them, the report adds. An obstacle that a team of scientific researchers will help overcome in Panama, with a study that they will carry out on the Azuero Peninsula.
It’s all about searching. “Characterization of groundwater in the sub-basin of the Gwara River for its water security’, which will start soon and run for 24 months.
“The main uses of groundwater are generally for human, animal and agricultural consumption. But, above all, we can investigate the sources of pollution in the area, determine the origin of the groundwater and the ability to carry out a hydrogeological model in this sub-basin.‘, he explains Dennis Morales, environmental engineer Experienced in hydrology and ecosystems and principal investigator for the study.
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Through this research, Morales expands, it will be possible to determine the quality of groundwater for human and animal consumption, which will provide livestock, and it will be possible to know and study aquifers, know their age, time of recharge and recharge the area of the aquifer for better management of resources water; In addition, the information generated by this study can be used to improve the regional arrangement of water resources.
“The work dynamics will consist mainly of field trips, where rain gauges, weather stations, river and well gauges and water quality sampling will be installed. It will seek to identify points in the upper, middle and lower part of the sub-basin of the Guararé River that are of great importance for the development of the hydrogeological model of the sub-basin (…) Part of the beginning of the project is to pre-verify the presence of wells in the area that can be used as measurement sites within it. It is also planned to drill some wells to complete the measurement areas.Morales details.
This project has a multidisciplinary team, about 10 researchers, most of them are from local institutions such as Center for Hydraulic and Hydrotechnical Research (CIHH), affiliated with the Technological University of Panama; o Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Science, Engineering and Technology AIP (CEMCIT AIP).
The results obtained from this research will enhance the information regarding groundwater resources in Panama. Recently, CIHH completed the project”Groundwater management tools in the Estpana rift rock sub-basin“which seeks to set a precedent in the province of Los Santos on the importance of groundwater in the region and in the country; it is also in the process of completing the project”Hydrogeological and biological study of the sub-basin of the Zarate River‘, which in the same way strives for the results to be ideal for decision-making on water resource management.
