Aquifer sectors within the GWB 041.001 Sierra de Altomira. Definition from structural and hydrodynamic criteria

Abstract

The activities developed within the Specific Collaboration Agreement that was signed in July 2012 between the Spanish Geological Survey (IGME) and the Community of Groundwater Users of the Sierra de Altomira, have expanded the already extensive hydrogeological knowledge of the Sierra de Altomira groundwater body (GWB). Its water balance has been established with updated consumption and very tight system inputs. As has already been indicated in previous studies, the hydrogeological complexity of the GWB has been verified and the real possibility that it is compartmentalized into independent aquifers. On the one hand, the review of historical and current data related to piezometry and foronomy has allowed the definition of the different aquifer sectors based on their hydrodynamics. On the other hand, an in-depth analysis of the origin and formation of the sedimentary structures that today constitute the permeable levels of the GWB, has been the basis of a tectonic sectorization, on a regional and local scale, with evident hydrogeological repercussions. This article contrasts both sub-divisions and analyzes their compatibility and the advantages that, for the effective management of the underground water resources of the GWB, involve its division into smaller hydrogeological areas. With this objective, four aquifer sectors have finally been established (the Uclés aquifer sector; the Carrascosa del Campo aquifer sector; the Mota del Cuervo aquifer sector and the Villar de Cañas aquifer sector) where the water balances can be adjusted with greater precision.