Montgomery & Associates hydrogeologists publish paper in the July/August
2003 issue of Ground Water
Errol Montgomery and Mike Rosko, in conjunction with some of our South
American colleagues, recently published a professional paper in the journal
Ground Water, a publication of the National Ground Water Association www.ngwa.org.
The following abstract and paper are reprinted from Ground Water with
permission of the National Ground Water Association, copyright 2003.
Interbasin Underflow Between Closed Altiplano
Basins
in Chile
Errol L. Montgomery, Michael J. Rosko, Santiago O. Castro, Barry R. Keller,
and Paolo S. Bevacqua
Interbasin ground water movement of 200 to 240 liters per second occurs
as underflow beneath a mountainous surface water divide separating the
topographically higher Salar de Michincha from the topographically lower
Salar de Coposa internally drained basins in the Altiplano of northern
Chile. Salt-encrusted flats (salars) and saline lakes occur on the lowest
parts of the basin floors and comprise the principal evaporative discharge
areas for the basins. Because a surface water divide separates the basins,
surface water drainage boundaries do not coincide with ground water drainage
boundaries. In the region, interbasin ground water movement is usually
not recognized, but occurs for selected basins, and at places is an important
component of ground water budgets. With increasing development of water
for mining industry and potential exportation of ground water from the
Altiplano for use at coastal cities, demonstration and quantification
of interbasin movement is important for assessment of sustainable ground
water development in a region of extreme aridity. Recognition and quantification
of interbasin ground water underflow will assist in management of ground
water resources in the arid Chilean Altiplano environment.
Complete paper in printable
PDF version.
For more information, please contact Mike Rosko at our Tucson office
or at mrosko@elmontgomery.com.
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