[Introducción]: En América Latina prevalece un manejo descoordinado y fragmentado de los recursos hídricos por la utilización de enfoques sectoriales y por la falta de información y sistematización. La Gestión Integrada de Recursos Hídricos (GIRH), enfoque que apunta a la consideración combinada de las dimensiones sociales, económicas y ecológicas con base en la gestión intersectorial y planificación integrada, es reconocida como apropiada para responder a los desafíos de la gestión sustentable. [Objetivo]: Se planteó como objetivo analizar, de forma integral, las variables físico-naturales y sociales que definen la problemática del agua de consumo en las escuelas rurales del partido de Tandil. [Metodología]: Se realizaron análisis fisicoquímicos y microbiológicos para determinar la potabilidad del recurso, se desarrolló y aplicó un índice del nivel de manejo del agua en las escuelas, así como una entrevista a un informante clave del Consejo Escolar de Tandil, para evaluar el manejo institucional del recurso y, por último, las variables relevadas se analizaron por completo. [Resultados]: Los resultados indicaron que microbiológicamente el agua no es apta para el consumo en el 73 % de las escuelas y que el manejo institucional dista de una conceptualización de gestión integral. [Conclusiones]: A partir de la integración de los resultados se concluye que dicho manejo influye directamente sobre la calidad del agua, evidenciado en los problemas microbiológicos detectados. Se identifican las principales falencias del manejo actual y se destaca la necesidad de asumir medidas institucionales que tiendan a una gestión integral del recurso.

Hydrodynamic and hydrochemical characterization of a rural basin using a monitoring network with an environmental perspective. This work was developed in a rural basin of the Tandil district, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its objective was to design an environmental network for monitoring the groundwater resource in the Chapaleofú stream basin, which integrates, beyond the classical hydrological view that evaluates the hydrodynamic and hydrochemistry, physicochemical and resource management variables in each sampling site, in a basin located in a rural area. 104 perforations were recorded and 36 were selected by applying a mesh over the basin in a GIS. In each cell, a perforation was selected comparing the variables: accessibility, jacketing, maintenance, electrical conductivity, distance to the nearest perforation, distance to the center of the cell, direct sample from the aquifer, and sampling and water depth in the same drilling. Hydrochemistry and hydrodynamic were evaluated in a campaign in which samples were taken for physicochemical analysis and the depths of the water level were measured. The variables of resource management surveyed (maintenance, condition, use of soil in the drilling lot and use of soil in the establishment) were related to water potability. A second reduction of the perforations was made, removing four that presented poor quality. Twenty boreholes were selected in the hills sector, seven in the piedmont sector and five in the plain. The hydrochemistry ranged from calcium and / or magnesium bicarbonate in the hills sector to sodium bicarbonate in the plain. No relationship was found between resource management and water quality. This shows the effectiveness in the selection of uncontaminated sites.

Manuscript’s motivation was to contribute to the water resources integral management approach that implies joint consideration of variables related to the water quality, its use, and their interactions. To address this complexity two statistical tools, index number model and discriminant analysis, were combined. The objective was to construct several index for the water management analysis of rural schools in the Tandil district (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and evaluate its reliability through multivariate analysis. Different water quality index based on physicochemical and microbiological analysis in water samples was constructed. A handling water index from surveys made in rural schools was constructed. 69% of the schools have good result of the water quality index, while only 31% had a handling index high result. It was shown that in the rural territory the water potability conditions are compromised fundamentally due to the lack of stakeholder’s empowerment and the absence of an institutional policy. Methodology used resulted adequately and can be applied with low cost of obtaining information to other environmental problems that require the integration of qualitative and quantitative variables. It therefore represents an advance for applied statistics since it allows dealing with the complexity of the variables combination without losing mathematical reliability.