Review of IMTA’s work on monitoring static water levels in the Cuatrociénegas aquifer, Coahuila.

Authors: Carlos Ojeda

Year: 2025

Abstract

The increase in groundwater extraction from the El Hundido aquifer, Coahuila, in early 2001 raised significant concerns about the potential adverse effects on the adjacent Cuatrociénegas aquifer, which contains a great diversity of endemic species. In 2004, IMTA conducted a study to evaluate the hydrodynamic, isotopic, and geochemical behavior of the El Hundido aquifer and its possible interaction with the Cuatrociénegas aquifer, Coahuila. The main results of the study indicate that there is a hydrodynamic divide between the Cuatrociénegas and El Hundido aquifers and that the groundwater in Cuatrociénegas is isotopically different from that of El Hundido. It was recommended to instrument the Cuatrociénegas valley basin to more accurately determine the variables involved in calculating the hydrological balance and groundwater availability. In 2007, IMTA constructed 11 monitoring wells in the western portion of the aquifer, while in 2014 the instrumentation of the eastern portion was completed with the construction of 5 additional monitoring wells (Figure 1). The wells were equipped with automatic measuring instruments (leveloggers-barologger), which have now reached the end of their useful life, so the replacement of these instruments is underway to continue monitoring groundwater levels. To date, records of static water levels are available from 2008 to 2018. This paper presents the main results of the studies carried out by IMTA, as well as the progress made in reactivating the monitoring network for the static water levels of the Cuatrociénegas aquifer in Coahuila. Aldama, Á.A., Aparicio, J., Gutiérrez-Ojeda, C., Martínez-Morales, M., González-Hita, L., Herrera-Zamarrón, G., Mata-Arellano, I., Mejía-González, M.A., Ortiz-Flores, G., Gallardo Almanza, P., Lobato-Sánchez, R., Pérez-López, J.L., Reza-Arzate, G., Fritz, P., Ramírez-Espinoza, J. & Cardona. A., (2007). Comportamiento hidrogeológico de los acuíferos Cuatrociénegas y El Hundido, Coahuila, México. Ingeniería Hidráulica en México, Vol. XXII, no. 3, July-September, 2007, pp. 37-59. IMTA, 2007, Estimación del balance y la disponibilidad del acuífero Cuatrociénegas, Coahuila-1a. Etapa. Proyecto TH0727.1 de Recursos Fiscales. IMTA; 2014, Red de monitoreo automática de niveles piezométricos del acuífero de Cuatrociénegas, Coahuila, Proyecto TH1405.1 de Recursos Fiscales.