The nineteenth-century drainage gallery of Cabezo de la Jara. Constructive and hydrogeological characteristics (Huércal Overa, Almería)

Abstract

A drainage gallery was built in the Cabezo de la Jara (Huércal Overa, Almería) aquifer between 1864 and 1886 for water catchment. Originally, it was about 2 km long through Miocene conglomerates and Triassic carbonates. Its construction process was complicated, due to the rivalry with the neighbouring municipality of Puerto Lumbreras (Murcia). With about 10 L/s of average flow rate, it is supposed to be the most important water point of this predominantly arid region. Nowadays, the Irrigation Community of “Aguas del Cabezo” is in charge of the management of the gallery and it is mainly used to water the fields in the vicinity and provide water for the animals on the farms. The gallery was explored anew in 2018 and a detailed topography map has been produced including the location of all the luminaries, a geological study of the surroundings, a chemical analysis of the groundwater evolution and measurements of the flow. The results show thermal and encrusting phenomena of the groundwater, demonstrating high sulphate and low chloride parameters. Based on all the collected information the hydraulic resources of the Cabezo de la Jara aquifer have been evaluated and 7 km2 of outcrops and a complex geological structure where all the infiltrated water is discharge by the gallery have been calculated. The annual average resources are estimated at around 0.4 hm3 with an infiltration coefficient of between 0.15 and 0.2.

Aportes de una arqueología forense situada: dos décadas de intervenciones en Tucumán (Argentina)

“…Grandes extensiones con vegetación autóctona (denominado bosque intermontano inferior, de la provincia fitogeográfica de las yungas, cf. González et al 2000) serán reemplazadas por miles de hectáreas con caña de azúcar y una diversidad de construcciones (las mismas instalaciones fabriles, los barrios para sus empleados permanentes y temporarios, obras para el riego y transporte, entre otros), lo que generó entornos fuertemente antropizados. Además de contar con suelos eficientes para la producción, el pedemonte también se caracteriza por sus recursos acuíferos subterráneos.…”