Decision Support Systems for Water Resource Management Applied to Andean Supply Micro-Basins

Abstract

Different aspects affect the availability of water, among them the dispersion of human settlements, the mismanagement of water sources, and the lack of implementation of plans, programs, and projects in watersheds. The Tabacay river micro basin is of great importance because it is the only water source that supplies the city of Azogues and rural populations. However, no tools have been developed for the planning and management of the resource. A Decision Support System is proposed through the hydrological simulation of the contributions of the basin and the application of urban supply criteria to identify the problem of the study area. Among the results obtained, it is observed that currently in the Tabacay river basin the guarantee of irrigation demand complies with the UTAH-Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) criterion for the next 30 years, while guaranteeing demand for human consumption in a short-term scenario. it is not fulfilled, with the population increase problems appear for the urban supply. Finally, some non-structural and structural measures are proposed which, through the simulation of scenarios, can reduce the water deficit in the micro-basin.