The water balance of Cienaga de las Macanas wetland

Keywords: Water balance, wetland, hydrology, QGis, Panama
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 67

Abstract

The "Dry Arch" is a region located on the Pacific coast of Panama, it is characterized by being a region where is a low level of precipitation. The “Cienaga de las Macanas” is one of the most important wetland in this area. Extreme weather events have affected the Dry Arch region for a long time. This is the case of the El Niño phenomenon in 2015 when it almost dried completely the wetland of Cienaga de las Macanas. This study quantifies what are the principles incomes and outcomes of water in the wetland and how they impact in the water balance of this ecosystem. The study area was the Cienaga de las Macanas drainage area, which covers 2,100 ha. Through the remote sensing method in the QGis software, it was observed that the majority of the studied area was wetland soil with 38.4%, followed by pastures for livestock which cover 23% of the area. Precipitation was analyzed from 1990 to 2020, these show a trend line to increase of 17.4 mm per year. The annual average precipitation gave a total of 1724 mm. The evapotranspiration from 1990 to 2012 was studied and resulted in an average of 1632 mm and a decrease of 2.86 mm annuals. Interannual rains have a strong effect on the water balance of the wetland and it is greatly affected by the El Niño and La Niña meteorological phenomena. Our hope is that this information would be useful for this wetland preservation.