GIS Data Assessment for Region II of Chile – Implications for Rural International Water Resource Databases

Benjamin Bass

Hydrogeology/Environmental Geology Undergraduate

November 29th, 2011GIS in Water Resources Presentation

Data CollectionNo Public Central Database for the nation

– No equivalent of an Open Database such as NHDPlus and USGS.

Equivalent of TWDB for Region II of Chile = SITHA

– Region II of Chile has GIS compatible files available through an organization specifically working on collecting spatial information systems for wetlands. – However much of this data is outdated and limited.

Individual Data Request Required directly from Chilean Government

– Various Parts of the Chilean Government had to be contacted. – Exchange of Data via request in my non-native tongue.

Data Request

Sitha

Summary of Talk

General Spatial Analysis

Trials and Tribulations of Watershed Delineation Analysis

Local Study on Copper Mines and their effects on Water Quality

Basic Climate Analysis of the Region

Legend

Precipitation

(mm/yr)

1 - 5

6 - 30

31 - 60

61 - 100

101 - 200

Ü

Legend

Evapotranspiration

(mm)

10

11 - 50

51 - 100

101 - 150

151 - 200

Legend

Vegetation No Vegetation

Ü

Spatial Analysis0 120 24060 KilometersÜ

Legend0

0.01 - 1.8

1.9 - 2.8

2.9 - 4.6

4.7 - 7.4

7.5 - 13

14 - 89

Spatial Analysis Cont…Ü

Fill Tool did not work on the DEM.

Flow Accumulation processing could not handle the size of the DEM or another problem associated with the DEM.

Problems with Watershed DelineationFlow Direction

Problems with Watershed Delineation

Ü

Disconnected perennial streams non-perennial streams.

Implications of Experiences• A centralized database with reliable data, open to the public, is necessary

for Chile, particularly for rural regions such as my study area where water resources are scarce.

• Further development towards a global database is necessary for this to happen, where language barriers and scattered, difficult to obtain data may not inhibit scientific analysis.

We need to continue towards developing an open international database exchange.

CUAHSIArcGIS Online

Copper Mines and Water Chemistry

Ü

Legend

# Water Chemistry

Copper Mines

Available Data

Data Points11 = 199920 = 2000

Predictions According to predominant direction of water flow

Flow Direction – East (1) Flow Direction – West (16)

Water Chemistry Inspection

EPA Safe Drinking Water MCL Limits (µg/L)pH TDS Nitrate Fluoride Al Iron Mn Cu Zn Sulfate 6.5-8.5 500000 10000 4000 200 300 50 1300 5000 250000

Cd Pb As Sb (Antimony) Hg Uranium5 15 10 6 2 30

Results - Copper

Legend

# ChemData

Copper Mines

Cu

1,926.806763 - 7,066.827321

7,066.827322 - 13,577.52003

13,577.52004 - 22,829.55703

22,829.55704 - 35,508.27441

35,508.27442 - 52,641.67627

52,641.67628 - 89,307.15625

EPA MCL1,300 µg/L

Results - SulfateLegend

# ChemData

Copper Mines

S0448,168.23 - 250,560.2

250,560.3 - 958,952.2

958,952.3 - 1,414,344

1,414,345 - 1,869,736

1,869,737 - 2,325,128

2,325,129 - 2,780,520

EPA MCL250,000 µg/L

Legend

# ChemData

Copper Mines

Fe

44.14 - 107.7

107.8 - 131.3

131.4 - 169

169.1 - 225.5

225.6 - 296.2

296.3 - 378.7

378.8 - 477.6

477.7 - 644.9

Results - IronEPA MCL300 µg/L

Summary

• Poor Water Quality inferred to be a result of copper mines.

• This has implications for management of water resources.

• Spatial Issues: Results makes sense for a local investigation of the area, but the surrounding region has many more mines.

• Temporal Issues: Only two years of data.

Data Sources and References

• Sitha.cl• Direccion General de Aguas – Gobierno de Chile• Ministerio del medio ambiente – Gobierno de Chile• Environmental Protection Agency

Thank you!