Evaluación de la Vulnerabilidad del Sistema de Acuíferos Presente en la Vereda de la Punta (Tenjo, Cundinamarca), Bajo la Metodología DRASTIC.

Abstract

Groundwater resources constitute one of the fundamental pillars for the functioning and social, economic, and environmental development of living beings. Hence the importance of their constant monitoring and protection through sustainable planning and proper management of these strategic reserves. The La Punta village, located in the municipality of Tenjo, has made use of groundwater resources for several decades due to the favorable soil and subsoil conditions of this region, which create a key junction for the formation of structures that house and contain water resources, generally referred to as aquifers. In addition, the lack of surface tributaries in the village has meant that, over time, the water resource has been altered and affected by the growing demand for its use for anthropogenic activities and for supplying the resident population, both in the village and the municipality. This work, based on the need to know the current state of the aquifer system in the La Punta area, implemented the DRASTIC methodology, with the purpose of evaluating the intrinsic vulnerability to contamination that the groundwater resource currently faces in the area; this to generate decisions and regulations by environmental and local authorities, in order to improve the early protection of this essential medium for the development of biotic, abiotic and social relationships. The results obtained were presented through the use of ArcGIS 10.8 software, where in conjunction with the parameters established by DRASTIC, seven thematic maps were obtained with respect to the seven parameters analyzed by this methodology. The union of maps using GIS tools exposed the current state of the aquifer systems that interact with the La Punta area, distinguishing that the average vulnerability to contamination was reflected to a greater extent in the western and eastern sectors, while the vulnerability of minimal characteristics was reflected in the central plain of the municipality. The above was based on information from existing and active wells at the study site, as well as soil configuration, which directly affects factors that can facilitate aquifer contamination by certain elements or substances. Finally, the results obtained from the final vulnerability map were used to develop a strategic environmental zoning proposal that would aid in the proper comprehensive management of the resource by delimiting areas based on their potential level of contamination due to anthropogenic activities.