Tidally Forced Saltwater Intrusions might Impact the Quality of Drinking Water, the Valdivia River (40° S), Chile Estuary Case
The Valdivia River estuary (VRE) located in south-central Chile is known as one of the largest estuarine ecosystems on the Pacific coast. This research aims to determine the intra-tidal and sub-tidal variability of saline intrusions into the VRE between November 2017 and March 2019 derived from sali...
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doaj-341b00a75103458ab58cff9150ed400f2020-11-25T03:42:24ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412020-08-01122387238710.3390/w12092387Tidally Forced Saltwater Intrusions might Impact the Quality of Drinking Water, the Valdivia River (40° S), Chile Estuary CaseJosé Garcés-Vargas0Wolfgang Schneider1Andre Pinochet2Andrea Piñones3Francisco Olguin4Daniel Brieva5Yongshan Wan6Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, ChileDepartamento de Oceanografía, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070043, ChileInstituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, ChileInstituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, ChileInstituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, ChileCentro de Investigación Oceanográfica COPAS Sur-Austral, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070043, ChileCenter for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, USEPA, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561, USAThe Valdivia River estuary (VRE) located in south-central Chile is known as one of the largest estuarine ecosystems on the Pacific coast. This research aims to determine the intra-tidal and sub-tidal variability of saline intrusions into the VRE between November 2017 and March 2019 derived from salinity sensors located along the VRE. Complementary hydrographic measurements were conducted during flood and ebb conditions of the spring and neap tides for each of the four seasons of the year along the central axis of the VRE. The results of the salinity time series showed that saline intrusions (values greater than 0.5 Practical Salinity Units) occurred ~20 km from the estuary mouth, when the total flow of the Cruces and Calle-Calle rivers (main tributaries of the estuary) was low, around 280–300 m<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>. During the same period, the best co-variability was observed between the saline intrusions and the mixed-semidiurnal tide and the fortnightly and monthly periods of the tide. Regression analyses indicated that salinity intrusion length (L) is best correlated to discharge (D) with a fractional power model L α D<sup>−1/2.64</sup> (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.88). The decreasing discharge trend, found between 2008–2019, implies that saline water intrusions would negatively impact the Valdivia’s main drinking water intake during the low rainfall season under future climate conditions.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/9/2387global changedrinking waterhydrologic floodtidal range |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
José Garcés-Vargas Wolfgang Schneider Andre Pinochet Andrea Piñones Francisco Olguin Daniel Brieva Yongshan Wan |
spellingShingle |
José Garcés-Vargas Wolfgang Schneider Andre Pinochet Andrea Piñones Francisco Olguin Daniel Brieva Yongshan Wan Tidally Forced Saltwater Intrusions might Impact the Quality of Drinking Water, the Valdivia River (40° S), Chile Estuary Case Water global change drinking water hydrologic flood tidal range |
author_facet |
José Garcés-Vargas Wolfgang Schneider Andre Pinochet Andrea Piñones Francisco Olguin Daniel Brieva Yongshan Wan |
author_sort |
José Garcés-Vargas |
title |
Tidally Forced Saltwater Intrusions might Impact the Quality of Drinking Water, the Valdivia River (40° S), Chile Estuary Case |
title_short |
Tidally Forced Saltwater Intrusions might Impact the Quality of Drinking Water, the Valdivia River (40° S), Chile Estuary Case |
title_full |
Tidally Forced Saltwater Intrusions might Impact the Quality of Drinking Water, the Valdivia River (40° S), Chile Estuary Case |
title_fullStr |
Tidally Forced Saltwater Intrusions might Impact the Quality of Drinking Water, the Valdivia River (40° S), Chile Estuary Case |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tidally Forced Saltwater Intrusions might Impact the Quality of Drinking Water, the Valdivia River (40° S), Chile Estuary Case |
title_sort |
tidally forced saltwater intrusions might impact the quality of drinking water, the valdivia river (40° s), chile estuary case |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Water |
issn |
2073-4441 |
publishDate |
2020-08-01 |
description |
The Valdivia River estuary (VRE) located in south-central Chile is known as one of the largest estuarine ecosystems on the Pacific coast. This research aims to determine the intra-tidal and sub-tidal variability of saline intrusions into the VRE between November 2017 and March 2019 derived from salinity sensors located along the VRE. Complementary hydrographic measurements were conducted during flood and ebb conditions of the spring and neap tides for each of the four seasons of the year along the central axis of the VRE. The results of the salinity time series showed that saline intrusions (values greater than 0.5 Practical Salinity Units) occurred ~20 km from the estuary mouth, when the total flow of the Cruces and Calle-Calle rivers (main tributaries of the estuary) was low, around 280–300 m<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>. During the same period, the best co-variability was observed between the saline intrusions and the mixed-semidiurnal tide and the fortnightly and monthly periods of the tide. Regression analyses indicated that salinity intrusion length (L) is best correlated to discharge (D) with a fractional power model L α D<sup>−1/2.64</sup> (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.88). The decreasing discharge trend, found between 2008–2019, implies that saline water intrusions would negatively impact the Valdivia’s main drinking water intake during the low rainfall season under future climate conditions. |
topic |
global change drinking water hydrologic flood tidal range |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/9/2387 |
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