Proposals for agrohydrological management in a basin from Umbral to Chaco, Salta, through the use of the HEC-HMS hydrological model

Abstract

In this work, hydrological modeling of a basin located in the homogeneous agroecological zone Umbral al Chaco, Province of Salta, Argentina, was carried out. The objective was to propose agrohydrological management that improves its operation. In the Threshold to Chaco, heavy rainfall, relief, lack of management and planning in land use compromise sustainability and cause an increase in degradation processes. The change in land use affects the rain-runoff relationships, and the use of hydrological models determines the magnitude of the hydric responses in different scenarios. A basin was delimited at a detail scale. It was characterized through a mapping procedure that allowed the generation of input data to the hydrological model. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) editing tools, scenarios with agrohydrological management are designed and their integration with the HEC-HMS hydrological model concludes the hydrological functioning of the basin. The results indicate that the change in land use has a great impact on the generation of runoff, the hydrographs obtained with the HEC-HMS show the need for flow regulation works to be able to manage hydrics excesses in intense rainfall.