BEHAVIOR OF THE INFILTRATION RATE AND ITS RELATION TO PHYSICAL - CHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF SOILS AS INDICATORS IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF WATER CONSERVATION, IN THE PLACES INTERVENED WITH THE PROJECT + WATER + IDENTITY

Abstract

The Lunarejo Valley, which is part of the National System of Protected Areas of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, has been suffering in recent decades from strong environmental pressure on its water sources, native forest, and soil. As part of the evaluation activities of the + Water + Identity project and after four years of its execution in favor of the conservation of the native forest, a study was carried out for the evaluation, in homogeneous soil units, of the hydrological parameters and physical characteristics– chemistry of the soils and their relationship with the infiltration rate, for the estimation of an indicator of environmental quality in the hydrological cycle of the evaluated sub-basins. Two series of samplings per producer were carried out, called «Series A» corresponding to the areas intervened in favor of the recovery of the native forest and «Series B» corresponding to the areas without intervention. The obtained results evidenced that the differences obtained for the studied parameters are due to soil forming factors. The study areas called "Series A" have infiltration rates higher than those estimated in the so-called "Series B" samples. Said faster infiltration rates in protected areas are associated with improvements in the physical properties found, favoring water infiltration processes compared to surface runoff.