Análisis de las relaciones entre sequía meteorológica e hidrológica presente en las estaciones de Chanlud, Labrado y Saucay en la subcuenca del río Machángara

Abstract

Climate changes at a global level have been modifying regional climate patterns, which has had as a major consequence over the presence of extreme hydrological events, as it is the case of drought. Droughts have directly affected the provision functions of the ecosystem services provided by the watersheds throughout each region. The present investigation analyzed the relationship between hydrological and meteorological droughts for the meteorological stations of Chanlud, Labrado and Saucay in the sub-basin of the Machángara River, located in the city of Cuenca - Ecuador, between the years 2000-2019. For its development, linear and nonlinear models were considered to relate the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and the standardized flow index (SSI), as well as the use of evaluation metrics for model validation. In addition, through the Run Theory, droughts were characterized and categorized by their duration and magnitude. Through models and six validation criteria, it was possible to identify that there is a direct relationship in both the duration and magnitude of these two types of droughts. However, the structures of the models were different, without this interfering with the efficiency of their results. This is how it was possible to show that the presence of large reservoirs becomes a great help for the management of water resources, minimizing the vulnerability of the population to extreme weather events and also to guarantee a reliable water supply