Bibliographic citations
Aste, N., (2018). Evaluación de la demanda hídrica agrícola actual y futuros riesgos en la costa peruana mediante el caso del Proyecto Especial Chavimochic La Libertad [Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú]. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12404/12338
Aste, N., Evaluación de la demanda hídrica agrícola actual y futuros riesgos en la costa peruana mediante el caso del Proyecto Especial Chavimochic La Libertad []. PE: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú; 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12404/12338
@misc{sunedu/2662529,
title = "Evaluación de la demanda hídrica agrícola actual y futuros riesgos en la costa peruana mediante el caso del Proyecto Especial Chavimochic La Libertad",
author = "Aste Cannock, Natalia",
publisher = "Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú",
year = "2018"
}
Water is an essential resource for human life with a sociocultural, economic and environmental value. Naturally, the Peruvian coast is characterized by pronounced water scarcity, nevertheless it has harbored the development of large scale projects of agriculture which represents the main consumptive water use sector in Peru. In the coastal region of La Libertad lies the Chavimochic Project (abbreviated to PECH, according to its Spanish acronym) whose main water supply is water diverted from the Santa river (Ancash region) which in a large extent originates from the glaciated high Andes (Cordillera Blanca). On the one hand, due to the PECH La Libertad has become an agro‐export production center contributing towards the socioeconomic development of the region. On the other hand, the continued expansion of cultivated areas with water‐intensive crops under the PECH has provoked a growing water demand, thus, creating higher pressure on the scarce water resources. In addition, under rapid glacier shrinkage in the Santa river catchment the river’s discharge will be altered at the long term, particularly in the dry season (austral winter). In this context, different impacts are expected, several of them with negative feedbacks on irrigation conditions, with the potential to increase water stress at the dry coast which would even more challenge future water resources management. At the same time, new opportunities arise to effectively manage water resources with the potential to reduce social conflicts. The present study evaluates the current and future agricultural water demand of the intervalleys (agro‐export lands) and the old valleys (small‐scale agriculture) under plans of expansion and possible changes in the regional water supply. The agricultural water demand of the interfluves has been computed with the software CROPWAT (FAO) using meteorological and crop data. Data on the old valley’s water demand was provided by the Board of Users. The gross agricultural water demand of the PECH was determined at 596.5 hm3, from which 87% is covered by the Santa river. Future water demand was projected under three possible socioeconomic pathways in the short (2030) and mid‐term (2050). An estimate of the current and future water balance for the 20 subbasins of the region has been calculated by creating a semi‐distributed hydrological model using the free software RS MINERVE (CREALP). As a result, a current and future negative water balance was obtained which reaffirms the valley’s dependence on the Santa’s water supply. The future water supply of the Santa river was simulated under socioeconomic and hydroclimatic changes resulting in a significant reduction of its dry season discharge (~34% by the year 2050) which would lead to a severe water deficit for the PECH and other water users at the coast. If the planned future reservoir Palo Redondo (use volume: 366 hm3) is taken into account, the potential water deficit would be buffered until 2030. Nevertheless, under the most pessimistic water demand scenarios towards 2050, this water deficit would persist. The results of the integrated future water balance provide an important baseline for Adaptive Water Management measures including the different water users and decision makers under a watershed approach.
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