Modelling of agricultural pollution in Mexican lagoons - Part 1: Methodology
- Authors: Matjaž ČETINA, Rudi RAJAR, Marina PINTAR, Fernando GONZALES-FARIAS
- Citation: Acta hydrotechnica, vol. 20, no. 33, pp. 371-386, 2002.
- Abstract: Many coastal lagoons in Mexico are used for mariculture (fish, shrimps, oysters). Regions near lagoons are usually exploited by agriculture, and drain water from this area brings nutrients and pesticides into the lagoons, which can contaminate products of mariculture. The goal of the research is to propose some scenarios of “optimum” agricultural management, which will enable diminished contamination of the lagoon water and marine food. First, several possible scenarios of improved agricultural management are studied. For each scenario numerical simulations are carried out by two models. Simulations by the GLEAMS model (with input parameters of hydrology, soil type and applied nutrients and pesticides) gives information on the contaminant contents in the drain water from the fields. Further on, simulations by two-dimensional hydrodynamic and pollutant transport model PCFLOW2D shows the distribution of contaminant concentration in the lagoons. By means of both models and some measurements, an optimum scenario of agricultural management will be proposed. This paper describes the proposed methodology, the second part will describe in detail the hydrodynamic and pollutant transport simulations for the case study of the Carizo valley in NW Mexico, and the third part will deal with modelling of agricultural pollution by the GLEAMS model and proposed management for the same case study.
- Keywords: twodimensional hydrodynamic modelling, modelling of pollutants, GLEAMS model, coastal lagoons, Mexico, mariculture
- Full text: a33rr.pdf