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    Managing Water Resources: Bolivia Uncovers Aquifer's Secrets With Nuclear Technology

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    Managing Water Resources: Bolivia Uncovers Aquifer's Secrets With Nuclear Technology

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    Managing Water Resources: Bolivia Uncovers Aquifer's Secrets With Nuclear Technology

    Uploaded by

    Ola Mae

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Isotopes for the environment

    Managing water resources: Bolivia


    uncovers aquifer’s secrets with
    nuclear technology
    By Laura Gil

    In certain regions of Bolivia,


    people depend on water from M ore than 2000 years old: that is one of
    the secrets stored in the atoms of water
    that flow in the Purapurani aquifer hidden
    to Purapurani,” Mancilla Ortuño said. A
    growing population relies on it for everyday
    use, companies draw heavily from it to keep
    aquifers for many uses.
    (Photo: L. Potterton/IAEA) underground in Bolivia. Despite centuries of up with urban expansion, and farmers need it
    supplying water to the cities of El Alto and to sustain their crops and livestock.
    Viacha near the capital of La Paz, little was
    known about Purapurani. But with the help The IAEA has helped Bolivia establish its
    of nuclear technology, scientists are gathering first isotope hydrology laboratory, and since
    key details about the age, quality and source 2012, IAEA experts have been training a
    “Isotopic techniques give of water in the aquifer. This information group of Bolivian scientists on the use of
    us useful information that is helping them find ways to protect and isotopic techniques to assess water resources
    we could not get from sustainably use this valuable resource. and determine their origin, age, vulnerability
    other methods. This gives to pollution, movement and interactions, both
    “Thanks to isotopes, we are unveiling our above and below ground (see The Science
    us a wider vision.” aquifer’s secrets,” said Paola Mancilla box, page 23). “Isotopic techniques give us
    — Paola Mancilla Ortuño, hydrologist, Ortuño, hydrologist at the Ministry of useful information that we could not get from
    Ministry of Environment and Water, Environment and Water. “Now we know that other methods. This gives us a wider vision,”
    Bolivia in the northern area of the aquifer, water at Mancilla Ortuño said.
    shallow levels is sadly contaminated. We also
    know that part of the water in the eastern area The improved capacities allow scientists to
    is possibly over 2000 years old. And we also answer questions they could not properly
    know that groundwater in another part of the address before: How old is the water and
    aquifer comes from rainwater in the Andes where does it come from? Is it still of good
    Mountain Range.” quality? How much of it is left? The answers
    to these questions help advance scientific
    Purapurani is a key resource for development research on Purapurani and shape water
    in the area, where more than a million people protection and management policies to reflect
    depend on this 300 km² aquifer. “The two the aquifer’s potential and limits.
    cities have developed economically thanks

    22 | IAEA Bulletin, September 2016


    Isotopes for the environment

    What they studied and found


    Bolivian scientists study the water’s age The Purapurani aquifer
    because it indicates roughly how long it takes
    the aquifer’s resources to replenish — in
    BOLIVIA
    this case, thousands of years — and helps to
    estimate the aquifer’s supply limits. Similarly,
    they check for contaminants to determine La Paz
    threats to the aquifer that could jeopardize El Alto La Paz
    its future use. At Purapurani, contamination
    has only been identified in a limited area of
    the aquifer and is likely related to river water
    mixing with aquifer water.

    “Now that we know where the water comes


    Viacha
    from, we have to protect the aquifer’s sources Major groundwater basins The Purapurani aquifer
    to ensure its sustainability and quality,” said
    Rafael Cortéz, Consultant for the Ministry of
    Environment and Water and lecturer at San While Bolivia’s humid lower lands (jungle) host major groundwater
    Andrés University. As the next step, he and basins, populated cities like La Paz, El Alto and Viacha are located on the
    his team of scientists plan to build artificial highlands, where water is scarce. The three cities depend on the water
    water recharge schemes to guarantee a stable from the 300 km2 Purapurani aquifer.
    supply of rainwater.

    Two worlds The team is now working to apply isotopic


    Working with the IAEA has yielded another techniques to the aquifers of the city of Oruro
    benefit to Bolivia: a multidisciplinary team of and to replicate the same studies in other
    chemists and hydrologists. cities of Bolivia. Bolivia has five main large
    urban aquifers, but only three have been
    “With these projects we are bringing studied so far. The recent hydrological studies
    together experts from different disciplines, supported by the IAEA are gaining attention
    hydrologists and chemists,” said Luis in conferences at the national level, and
    Araguás Araguás, isotope hydrologist in the universities have now introduced the concept
    IAEA’s Division of Physical and Chemical of isotope hydrology in their curricula.
    Sciences. “A hydrologist doesn’t usually
    study isotopes, and a chemist doesn’t usually “We’ve grown with each project,” Cortéz
    study water resources. Thanks to our projects, said. “We have crawled, stood up, learned to
    they meet and exchange their expertise.” walk, and are now starting to jog.”

    THE SCIENCE
    Isotope hydrology
    Water molecules carry unique ‘fingerprints’ based on their different proportions of isotopes,
    which are chemical elements with atoms that have the same number of protons, but a different
    number of neutrons. They may be natural or artificial. Radioisotopes are unstable and are
    constantly releasing energy called radioactivity as they decay to regain stability. Scientists can
    measure the period of time it takes for half of the radioisotopes to decay, which is known as the
    half-life. By knowing the half-life of a radioisotope and the isotope content in water or in other
    substances, scientists can determine the age of water that contains those radioisotopes.

    Stable isotopes do not disintegrate and remain constant throughout the entire period they are
    present in water. Scientists use the different isotope contents in surface water and groundwater to
    determine various factors and processes, including sources and history of water, past and present
    rainfall conditions, recharge of aquifers, mixing and interactions of water bodies, evaporation
    processes, geothermal resources and pollution processes.

    IAEA Bulletin, September 2016 | 23

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