Hydrological implications of land-cover and land-use change: a proposal for spatial analysis at a regional level in the closed Cuitzeo-lake basin, Michoacán

• Main Authors: Manuel Mendoza, Gerardo Bocco, Erna López Granados, Miguel Bravo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2012-03-01
• Series: Investigaciones Geográficas
• Subjects: Sistemas de información geográfica; percepción remota; matrices de transición; análisis regional; cambio de cobertura vegetal y del suelo; balance hídrico; cuencas poco aforadas
• Online Access: http://www.investigacionesgeograficas.unam.mx/index.php/rig/article/view/30448

This study was undertaken to understand the implications of regional land-cover and land-use change (LCLUC) in a spatially distributed water balance (SDWB) within a poorly gauged basin in 1975 and 2000. Results from this work were derived by integrating remote sensing and geographic information system tools with a water-balance model, along with the application of a transitional matrix analysis. The analysis of changes in water-balance components, based on landforms and transitional matrices, indicated a small tendency towards improvement in the basin's hydrological conditions at a regional level. However, as a consequence of the increase in urban land-use, the basin's plains piedmonts showed a rice in runoff. In addition, the basins' lower areas exhibited a high demand for water resources due to an increased urban land-use in both years, along with the Cuitzeo lake degradation, particularly in terms of pollution and reduction of surface water inflow. The integrated approach used herein constitutes a viable alternative for understanding changes in the amount and spatial distribution of water available in poorly gauged water basins as a consequence of LCLUC.