86
In the Maneadero Valley, a wastewater treatment plant (called Maneadero) was
built to avoid more groundwater pollution. Also, programs to cancel some groundwater wells were implemented, and piezometric nets are being operated to monitor
the aquifer depletion. To reduce stress on water supplies and prevent marine intrusion, in 2003 the Integrated Water Management Plan for the Maneadero aquifer was
drawn up by CONAGUA, which is the Mexican government agency in charge of
national water management, through application of the National Water Law.
Although the plan was never made official, it suggested the use of reclaimed water
(RW) and recommended the construction of infrastructure for agricultural irrigation
and artificial (not incidental) aquifer recharge (Gilabert-Alarcón et al. 2018a).
Unlike other valleys in Mexico, since 2014 in Maneadero water users are already
using RW coming from the city of Ensenada. This RW for agricultural irrigation and
incidental discharges on a riverbed have been applied in Maneadero Valley, resulting in a mix of dissolved salts attributed to natural geochemical processes,
anthropogenic- derived processes (urban solid waste, wastewater and animal waste)
and marine intrusion (Gilabert-Alarcón et al. 2018a) that have also affected the
recharge of the aquifer. The main wastewater treatment plant in Ensenada is called
“El Naranjo” and has a treatment capacity of 500 L s
−1
. El Naranjo is located
approximately 13 km north of the Maneadero aquifer. It was in June 29th of 2014
when the implementation of the pilot project ($6 million U.S. dollars) for the reuse
of RW started with 152 ha of irrigated lands with 200 L s
−1
. Then, 80 L s
−1
were
used to reactivate agriculture production of 200 ha in areas that were mostly abandoned and 120 L s
−1
directly to the Las Animas creek, as an incidental aquifer
recharge (Mendoza-Espinosa and Daesslé 2018).
In summary, the water subsystem has changed historically due to some factors in
the human subsystem, disturbing the quality and the quantity of the Maneadero
aquifer and conditioning the groundwater supply. Then, the coupled human–water
system or DSES in Maneadero Valley considers the following components and variables (Table 5.2).
Table 5.2 Components and variables of a SES in Maneadero Valley
Component
Variables
Water subsystem (biophysical
environment) influenced by
human subsystem
• Climate: extreme temperature variations and low precipitation
(rainfall) rate
• Groundwater depletion levels: caused by sustained
groundwater pumping (over-extraction)
• Natural biogeochemical processes: sorption, ion exchange,
filtration, precipitation and biodegradation that cause soil
desalinization
• Groundwater pollution
– Leachate infiltration from agricultural (fertilizers,
herbicides, pesticides) and domestic activities (wastewater
from septic tanks)
– Infiltration of RW from agricultural irrigation
– Infiltration of RW from incidental discharges to creeks
– Marine intrusion, which caused the increase of the TDS
that exceed the maximum permissible limit of 1 g L
−1
(continued)
M. Villada-Canela et al.
In the Maneadero Valley, a wastewater treatment plant (called Maneadero) was
built to avoid more groundwater pollution. Also, programs to cancel some groundwater wells were implemented, and piezometric nets are being operated to monitor
the aquifer depletion. To reduce stress on water supplies and prevent marine intrusion, in 2003 the Integrated Water Management Plan for the Maneadero aquifer was
drawn up by CONAGUA, which is the Mexican government agency in charge of
national water management, through application of the National Water Law.
Although the plan was never made official, it suggested the use of reclaimed water
(RW) and recommended the construction of infrastructure for agricultural irrigation
and artificial (not incidental) aquifer recharge (Gilabert-Alarcón et al. 2018a).
Unlike other valleys in Mexico, since 2014 in Maneadero water users are already
using RW coming from the city of Ensenada. This RW for agricultural irrigation and
incidental discharges on a riverbed have been applied in Maneadero Valley, resulting in a mix of dissolved salts attributed to natural geochemical processes,
anthropogenic- derived processes (urban solid waste, wastewater and animal waste)
and marine intrusion (Gilabert-Alarcón et al. 2018a) that have also affected the
recharge of the aquifer. The main wastewater treatment plant in Ensenada is called
“El Naranjo” and has a treatment capacity of 500 L s
−1
. El Naranjo is located
approximately 13 km north of the Maneadero aquifer. It was in June 29th of 2014
when the implementation of the pilot project ($6 million U.S. dollars) for the reuse
of RW started with 152 ha of irrigated lands with 200 L s
−1
. Then, 80 L s
−1
were
used to reactivate agriculture production of 200 ha in areas that were mostly abandoned and 120 L s
−1
directly to the Las Animas creek, as an incidental aquifer
recharge (Mendoza-Espinosa and Daesslé 2018).
In summary, the water subsystem has changed historically due to some factors in
the human subsystem, disturbing the quality and the quantity of the Maneadero
aquifer and conditioning the groundwater supply. Then, the coupled human–water
system or DSES in Maneadero Valley considers the following components and variables (Table 5.2).
Table 5.2 Components and variables of a SES in Maneadero Valley
Component
Variables
Water subsystem (biophysical
environment) influenced by
human subsystem
• Climate: extreme temperature variations and low precipitation
(rainfall) rate
• Groundwater depletion levels: caused by sustained
groundwater pumping (over-extraction)
• Natural biogeochemical processes: sorption, ion exchange,
filtration, precipitation and biodegradation that cause soil
desalinization
• Groundwater pollution
– Leachate infiltration from agricultural (fertilizers,
herbicides, pesticides) and domestic activities (wastewater
from septic tanks)
– Infiltration of RW from agricultural irrigation
– Infiltration of RW from incidental discharges to creeks
– Marine intrusion, which caused the increase of the TDS
that exceed the maximum permissible limit of 1 g L
−1
(continued)
M. Villada-Canela et al.