Estimating groundwater resources of the Içá-Solimões Aquifer System in the Urucu Oil Province Central Amazon Region, Brazil, focused on a balance between availability and water demand.

Abstract

Hydrogeologic information is still scarce in the Amazon region being required more studies for improving the understanding of local hydrogeologic contexts. The goal of this paper, focused on the Urucu Oil Province, Brazilian Central Amazon, is to quantitatively estimate groundwater resources of the Içá-Solimões Aquifer System (ISAS) in the region. The work focuses on a balance between availability and water demand, considering current and future uses, contributing to a sustainable and integrated use of groundwater. Cartographic, lithologic and geophysical logs were analyzed coupled with ISAS hydraulic data (transmissivity, hydraulic conductivity, and storativity) and its local aquifer geometries, as well as the potentiometric surface map to estimate values of total and renewable groundwater resources, sustainable yields, and well-field facility capacities. Results showed the portion of the Içá-Solimões Aquifer System has a total groundwater resource of 0.45 km3. As there is a groundwater consumptive projection to 2050 close to 2.7 x 10-3 km3 yr–1 and the aquifer system has a sustainable yield of 3 x 10-3 km3 yr–1, the current resource allocation for future consumption rate appears to be sustainable.