River of Hardship

Perspectives: Research and Creative Activities at SIUC, Spring 2008

:: research survey ::

River of Hardship

The water is disappearing in the Ica River Valley of Peru. Entire branches have dried up, and the agriculture-based economy is suffering.

Associate professor of civil and environmental engineering Rolando Bravo, who also is the new director of the American Institute of Hydrology (see AIH Comes to SIUC), wants to know why. He's enlisted the help of the Peruvian government and the Universidad Alas Peruanas, a large private university in Lima, to find out.

"We want to understand what is going on with the ecological cycle there," says Bravo, a native of Peru.

The area lies near the city of Ica, about 200 miles south of Lima in a region known for its lush beet, asparagus, chickpea, and avocado fields. Ica is home to about 200,000 people.

The shortage is a mystery because other than a drought five years ago, things appear to be normal. Water for the area comes from rainfall and the melting of ice caps in the Andes Mountains, and runs into lakes scattered throughout the region. The lakes feed rivers, such as the Ica River.

"The lakes are full, so we don't know if maybe it is raining less or maybe it is raining heavier for shorter periods of time, which is not as productive," Bravo says.

He and the Peruvian researchers will gather existing data, such as rainfall totals, and create new data sets, such as an inventory of the estimated 2,500 wells in the area. The team will then analyze the data to try to determine why the rivers and groundwater are drying up.

Bravo hopes the team's baseline information will help Peru obtain development funds. Their goal is to make recommendations to local officials and engineers on how to mitigate the water shortage.

The yearlong project is supported by about $80,000 from Universidad Alas Peruanas.

—by Tim Crosby