Author(s): Juan Grima Olmedo
Email (s): j.grima@igme.es
Institution or organization of origin: IGME-CSIC
Country: Spain
Abstract
Talayuelas Lagoon is a Protected Natural Area of 29.66 hectares located within a Site of Community Interest (SCI) in the province of Cuenca (Spain). It is a Micro-Reserve since 2003, in order to protect species and their habitats, within the framework of strategies and policies for the conservation of biodiversity in Europe. Despite the fact that the Management Plan for the SCI area indicates as a fundamental objective the definition of the state of conservation of components of natural heritage, biodiversity, geodiversity and ecological and geological processes, the groundwater component has been completely overlooked. In fact, there are no detailed investigations of the groundwater hydrodynamics in the study area. For this reason, the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME-CSIC) has addressed the study of the Talayuelas Lagoon within the framework of a research project that includes a number of wetlands. The work carried out has allowed the development of the conceptual model of the wetland, driven by their physical environment factors and components of the hydrological system. Precipitation and temperature data for the area have been obtained from the nearest meteorological station with complete records. The Thornthwaite method and the RENATA computer application (IGME-DPA) have been employed for the estimation of surface runoff and deep infiltration. Finally, in contrast to previous studies, the calculated average water balance (period 2009-2015) has allowed to verify the existence of a significant infiltration component, thus validating the conceptual model.