STOTEN-20830; No of Pages 10

Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Science of the Total Environment

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv

Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador,

using the susceptibility index method
Luís Ribeiro a,b,⁎, Juan Carlos Pindo a, Luis Dominguez-Granda a
a
Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Centro del Agua y Desarrollo Sustentable, Campus Gustavo Galindo Km 30.5 Vía Perimetral, P.O. Box 09-01-5863, Guayaquil, Ecuador
b
CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1040-001 Lisboa, Portugal

H I G H L I G H T S G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T

• Groundwater vulnerability was

assessed by using SI method.
• Quaternary unit is classified as highly
vulnerable due dominant paddy fields.
• A monitoring network is proposed to
acquire N03 data for SI map validation.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Guayas region in Ecuador is economically very important, producing 68% of the national crops. The main ag-
Received 22 February 2016 ricultural activities threaten the groundwater therein with nitrate contamination given the large fertiliser and
Received in revised form 1 September 2016 water needs. The present work tests the applicability of the susceptibility index assessment method in evaluating
Accepted 1 September 2016
the impact of agricultural activities on groundwater quality, using as a case study an aquifer of the Guayas river
Available online xxxx
basin in Ecuador. The index adapts four parameters of the DRASTIC method and incorporated a new land use pa-
Editor: D. Barcelo rameter. Results show that the areas highly vulnerable to contamination are located in irrigation perimeters of
dominant paddy fields associated with the high recharge rates in the alluvial deposits. Respectively, moderately
Keywords: vulnerable and low-vulnerability areas correspond to aquatic environments and forests, semi-natural zones and
Vulnerability index water bodies. One of the main contributions of the Daule aquifer vulnerability is likely its wide, flat topography. A
Agriculture great part of the aquifer is at high risk of contamination by nitrates if a code of good agricultural practices is not
Contamination applied. Therefore the implementation of a monitoring network to control the nitrates concentrations is the first
Net recharge step to assure groundwater quality for drinking purposes.
Land use
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

⁎ Corresponding author at: CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Groundwater vulnerability can be defined as “an intrinsic property
Av. Rovisco Pais, 1040-001 Lisboa, Portugal. of a groundwater system that depends on the sensitivity of that system

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
0048-9697/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
2 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

to human and/or natural impacts” (Vrba and Zoporozec, 1994). vulnerability characteristics in a minimum number of parameters is
However, in addition to an intrinsic propierty that focuses singly on not without detrimental aspects. For example, the use of AVI is highly
hydrogeological factors, there is also a specific vulnerability that in- dependent on whether there is a significant number of lithological
volves factors related to human activities such as the type of contami- logs with spatial representation in the area under review, so as to be
nant and the land use. able to estimate the thickness and hydraulic conductivity of the
Accurately assessing the degree of vulnerability of bodies of water is hydro-stratigraphic units above the water table. Finally, the great ma-
highly important as it represents a very useful tool for the managing au- jority of the methods ignore parameters that may have an important
thorities to support Basin Water Plan role in groundwater vulnerability assessment in certain areas such as
The methods for assessing groundwater vulnerability can be divided the hydraulic gradient, the porosity, the content of soil moisture and
in index methods, statistical methods and process methods (Focazio et various reactive and absorption/adsorption properties. A discussion
al., 2002) about these issues can be found in Stigter et al. (2006).
Index methods assign numerical scores or ratings directly to various Field studies show that specific methods incorporating information
physical attributes to develop a range of vulnerability categories. about the land cover type and/or the type of associated human activities
Statistical methods range from simple summary or descriptive sta- (e.g., the type and nature of agricultural practices) perform better than
tistics of concentrations of targeted contaminants to more complex re- the purely intrinsic methods (Stigter et al., 2006). A negative aspect of
gression analyses that incorporate the effects of several predictor the intrinsic methods is the arbitrariness of the weighting system for
variables. the parameters used. This is because the incorporated consensus of a
Process-based methods refer to approaches that either simulate or Delphi has been obtained in a specific hydro-climatic environment,
otherwise take into account physical processes of water movement and thus, unable to be applied to assess vulnerability in differing climat-
and the associated fate and transport of contaminants in the environ- ic realities (for example, DRASTIC). Another frequent criticism of the
ment. These approaches usually include the use of process simulating DRASTIC method is the redundancy in the parameters used for calculat-
models that calculate the distribution of vulnerable or intrinsically sus- ing the index—such is the case of S and I parameters whose influence
ceptible areas based on the movement of water and solutes. overrides that of the already part vadose subset. For instance and ac-
Simple and quick methods using only lithological information are cording to Francés et al. (2002), the soil type is indirectly represented
currently applied for large scales These methods are considerably by land use, hereby referring to Foster (1987). However, many authors,
open to criticism as permeability classes are attributed subjectively to including Foster (1987) and Vrba and Zaporozec (1994), recognize that
lithological types (Robbins, 1998). Other evaluation methods, called the soil can have a large attenuation potential, especially when rich in
parametric, are based on the selection of a set of parameters considered clay minerals and organic matter. In other words, leaving the soil prop-
representative for assessing the degree of vulnerability. The parametric erties out of the vulnerability assessment is not necessarily an obvious
methods include: i.) DRASTIC, an acronymic of seven variables from choice. On the other hand, an additional justification can be given by
which the model name is derived: depth to water, recharge, aquifer the fact that, due to ploughing, tillage and many other techniques ap-
media, soil media, topography, impact of the vadose zone, and hydraulic plied to improve the soil structure and fertility, the natural soils are fre-
conductivity (Aller et al., 1987); ii.) the AVI method derived from quently disturbed during cultivation of land so that they lose much of
the aquifer vulnerability index (van Stempvoort et al., 1993); and their original characteristics.
iii.) GOD, an acronym of three variables—groundwater occurrence, The same type of redundancy exists for the aquifer type parameters
overall lithology of the unsaturated zone and depth to groundwater and hydraulic conductivity.
(Foster, 1987). These methods are generally developed with discrete in- Since its creation by Ribeiro (2000), Susceptibility Index (SI) has
tervals whereby each interval is assigned a value or class of values that been applied in various case studies, mainly in Portugal: aquifer de
reflect the degree of sensitivity to contamination, and with a weighting Gabros de Beja (Francés et al., 2002; Serra et al., 2003; Ribeiro et al.,
system option. 2003; Nascimento et al., 2004); Tejo and Sado aquifer (Paralta et al.,
In addition to the intrinsic vulnerability methods several other 2001; Batista, 2004); Albufeira golf course (Stigter et al., 2002);
methods are available to evaluate specific vulnerability. These can be Campina de Faro and Tavira aquifers (Stigter et al., 2003; Stigter et al.,
classified as: i.) lithological oriented, such as EPIK, an acronym of the pa- 2006; Stigter, 2005); Escusa aquifer (Amaro, 2004); Moura-Ficalho
rameters epikarst (E), protective cover (P), infiltration conditions (I) aquifer (Oliveira, 2004); and Évora-Montemor-Cuba aquifer (Mendes,
and karstic network (K) (Doerfliger & Zwahlen, 1997), or ii.) pollutant 2004).
oriented such as SI (susceptibility index) for nitrate (Ribeiro, 2000). The work of Stigter et al. (2006) was a fundamental step in SI valida-
The determining factor for choosing the most appropriate tion because it proved that the incorporation of land use in the index
methods for assessing groundwater vulnerability is the availability of calculations clearly benefits the vulnerability assessment of diffuse agri-
sufficient quantitative and qualitative data on aquifer hydrological, cultural pollution. Therein, results obtained using validation with NO3
hydrogeological and geomorphological features. The selected method concentration measured in situ show the advantage of SI over DRASTIC,
is required to have a more expeditious nature without the need for with the latter revealing an underestimation of the vulnerability for
generating estimates with high levels of uncertainty or the use of a almost the entire aquifer area.
large number of parameters. Since then, SI has been successfully applied in different case studies
DRASTIC is one of the most widely used groundwater vulnerability to assess vulnerability: Oualidia-Sidi Moussa wetland, Morocco (El
assessment index methods, with applications in countries such as the Himmer et al., 2013); Sidi Bouzid Aquifer, Tunisia (Aydi et al., 2012);
United States (Rupert, 2001), Sweden (Rosen, 1994), South Korea aquifer of Nalgonda district, Telangana, India (Brindha and Elango,
(Kim and Hamm, 1999), South Africa (Lynch et al., 1997) and Portugal 2015); Nabeul-Hammamet aquifer, Tunisia (Anane et al., 2013);
(Lobo-Ferreira and Oliveira, 1993), among many others. aquifer in Melaka State of Malaysia (Shirazi et al., 2013); Metline–Ras
Although the authors of DRASTIC (cf. Aller et al., 1987) recognised Jebel–Raf Raf aquifer, Tunisia (Hamza et al., 2007); Oued Guéniche,
that there is a clear interaction between some parameters, they also un- Tunisia (Hamza and Added, 2009); Bajo Cauca, Antioquia, Colombia
derstood that the elimination of some parameters entails a loss of valu- (Ribeiro et al., 2011); and Caldas de Cavaca, Portugal (Teixeira et al.,
able information on the outcome of the index. The reaction was the 2014).
development of methods that integrate a reduced number of parame- The main objective of this work is to evaluate the vulnerability of the
ters, such as AVI or GOD, yet without losing the representation of the Daule aquifer in the Guayas river basin, Ecuador, applying SI. This aqui-
main processes or the integration of the parameter land use and of a fer is threatened by diffuse nitrate contamination induced by agricultur-
new weighting system, such as the SI. However, synthesising the al practices, especially rice cultivation.

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 3

Implementing state qualitative and quantitative monitoring The systems Quevedo, Daule, Babahoyo – Ventanas, Milagro - Naran-
programmes helps to improve the planning, development, protection jito and Naranjal - Ponce Enriquez are considered priority aquifers for
and management of groundwater, anticipating or controlling pollution further research.
sources and problems of overexploitation or degradation. In this case Daule aquifer was selected for this study because of the enormous
we argue that the implementation of a network to control the nitrates importance in terms of water supply for the agriculture. Their location
concentrations is vital to promote the sustainability of groundwater in the basin can be seen in Fig. 1. Geologically, in the Daule aquifer
sources suitable for drinking purposes as well to fulfill the gap in data there are three formation types (SENAGUA, 2014) that are represented
towards the creation of a more reliable SI map for the Daule aquifer. in Fig. 2.
For the great majority of cases, groundwater monitoring networks Geologically the Daule aquifer is composed by the following forma-
are randomly designed, including the Daule aquifer, and consequently, tions: Balzar, Pichilingue, Angostura, Piñón and alluvial deposits.
need to be revised and optimised to reduce operation time and cost, re- The Balzar formation from the Pliocene age consists of tuff, sand-
move redundant data, and strengthen the sparseness data zone with a stone, laminated clays, sandstones with calcareous levels and conglom-
supplementary observation well. erates with medium to high permeability and intergranular porosity. In
Among the various methods for designing groundwater monitoring this region there are wells for drinking and domestic use, with depths
networks are the geostatistical ranking methods to augment or design ranging from 5 to 140 m, flow rates between 1 and 8 L/s, electrical con-
monitoring networks for site-characterisation purposes. ductivity (EC) values below 284 μS/cm and average pH of about 6.2.
The Pichilingue formation from the Pleistocene age consists of river
sediments with depths of wells varying from 3 to 36 m, flow b3 L/s
2. SI method and, EC below 264 μS/cm. Water is supplied for drinking and domestic
purposes.
The above-mentioned DRASTIC shortcomings triggered the develop- The Angostura formation from the Miocene age, is composed of
ment of the new index, SI. Within this index, the addition of a new pa- sandstones, basal conglomerate, green shale, and limestone banks
rameter, land use (LU) allows for incorporating the influence of the with low to medium permeability. Wells are for drinking and domestic
anthropogenic factors in its calculation, transforming the index from in- use, with a range of depths from 5 to 15 m, flow rates below 0.5 L/s and
trinsic to specific. EC between 922 and 1431 μS/cm.
The additional inclusion of a new weighting system inferred from a The Piñón formation is composed of extrusive basaltic rocks with py-
Delphi panel of Portuguese experts (Hsu and Sandford, 2007) guaran- roclastic, not stratified, breccias and agglomerate, and is considered to
tees that the results are more precise in the hydro-environmental char- be an aquiclude.
acterisation of case studies. The principal types of land use and their The alluvial deposits consist of sediments carried by rivers, and
assigned ratings identified by Portuguese experts (Ribeiro, 2000) are coalluvial deposits are composed by poorly consolidated silt-clay mate-
shown in Table 1. SI index method is fully described and discussed in rials. Both deposits have high permeability and porosity.
Stigter et al. (2006). Fig. 3 displays the hydrographical network. The river Daule is the
main stream and the rivers Pula and Pedro Carbo are tributaries. The
main water consumer from the rivers is agriculture, especially rice,
3. Hydrogeology and aquifer systems in Guayas river basin corn and mango. Groundwater is mainly used for cultivation of banana
trees. The main recharge sources are rain and river infiltration.
The Guayas River Basin is located in the central-western part of Ec-
uador (00° 14 ‘S, 02° 27′ S; 78° 36 ‘W, 80° 36′ W) and drains through 4. Application of SI to Daule aquifer
the Guayas River into the Pacific Ocean, just south of the city of Guaya-
quil. Most of the basin is in the coast region, while its eastern part drains In order to develop vulnerability maps, first, the different layers of
to the Andean western slope of Ecuador. topographical, land use and hydrogeological information are required.
There are 14 aquifer systems in the Guayas river basin. In a recent
study (SENAGUA, 2014), these aquifer systems were classified as veri- 4.1. Depth of water (D)
fied and potential systems, depending on the level of relevant informa-
tion available and using a valuation methodology in accordance with Although there is a lack of information regarding the flow conceptu-
the values of flow, static level, well depth and permeability. An alterna- al model of the Daule aquifer, we conclude from various studies that the
tive but integrative categorisation based on detailed hydrogeological in- aquifer is unconfined (SENAGUA, 2014).
vestigation of the aquifer properties, and taking into consideration its In order to consider a more pessimistic scenario for groundwater
economic importance and capacity to provide the human consumption vulnerability, the water level values used were those registered in
needs during water shortages, would be most useful as it would allow 2005, which were representative of a rainy season.
the identification of priority aquifers. This piezometric surface was then subtracted from the topographic
surface to obtain the map of water table depths. The smallest depths
Table 1 to groundwater are found in the topographically flat parts near the
Land use classes and respective rates using in SI method. Daule and its tributaries. In other areas, depths increase, and at some re-
Land use Rating gions such as the north and west parts can even reach 30 m. The ranged
values were transformed with Table 2 data.
Agricultural areas Irrigation perimeters (annual crops), paddy fields 90
Permanent crops (orchards, vine yards) 70
Heterogeneous agricultural areas 50 4.2. Net recharge (R)
Pastures and agro-forested areas 50
Artificial areas Industrial waste discharges, landfills 100 The Guayas basin is characterised by a rainy season from December
Quarries, shipyards, open-air mines 80
to May.
Continuous urban areas, airports, harbours, (rail)roads, areas with 75
industrial or commercial activity, laid out green spaces Mean annual precipitation is 1462 mm and ranges from 1060 to
Discontinuous urban areas 70 2316 mm, with variations related to west–east orographic factors. In
Natural areas Aquatic environments (salt marshes, salinas, intertidal zones) 50 dry years, precipitation can drop to 400 mm and it can increase to
Forests and semi-natural zones 0 4000 in wet years, such as during El Nino events. March is the wettest
Water bodies 0
month, with a mean precipitation of 365 mm; August is the driest

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
4 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

Fig. 1. Location of the five more important aquifers in Guayas River basin (adapted from SENAGUA (2014).

month with a mean of 9.8 mm. Seventy-eight percent of total precipita- With very few exceptions, all the areas received the maximum rat-
tion occurs between January and April (Borbor-Cordova et al., 2006). ing (10), as topography here is very flat (slopes b 2%).
An average value of 20% of the precipitation was used for net re-
charge (SENAGUA, 2014, Nimmo et al., 2005). We also considered the 4.5. Land use (LU)
part of recharge induced by irrigation from surface water and return
flow that depends mainly on crop water requirements and irrigation The Guayas region is economically important in Ecuador because it
efficiencies. produces 68% of the national crops, 73% of corn, 88% of bananas, 90%
In the case of the Daule region, rice cultivation requires a huge of export shrimp, 39% of cattle and 50% of industry and manufacturing.
amount of water, and thereby, we have to assign the highest ranking The main agricultural activities in the Daule region are rice, banana,
to these areas. The ranged values were transformed with Table 2 data. palm, soy, sugar cane and maize. (Borbor-Cordova et al., 2006).
In most irrigated areas corresponding to rice crops, the assigned rat- Permanent crops consist of a combination of banana, sugar cane,
ing is 80, indicating a recharge between 178 and 254 mm. In other areas fruit trees, plantain, African palm, cocoa, and coffee; annual crops in-
where the geological formations are less permeable, the rating clude a combination of maize, rice, soybeans and vegetables.
corresponded to 60. The non-agricultural areas, corresponding to Table 4 is indicated fertiliser inputs to these various crops (Borbor-
urban areas were thus assigned a rating of 10, equal to recharge lower Cordova et al., 2006). The input values were obtained from interviews
than 51 mm. with farmers and local agricultural agents, and multiplying this area
by typical fertiliser application rates for each individual crop in this re-
4.3. Aquifer media (A) gion of Ecuador. Large quantities of inorganic fertiliser such as urea, am-
monium sulfate, super phosphate and ammonium phosphate are
The aquifer media map was constructed based on the geological applied as routine agricultural practice in the Guayas basin (Borbor-
map, taking into account the relative intrinsic permeability of the lithol- Cordova et al., 2006).
ogies of the geological formations described in Section 3. The different A high rating (90) was assigned to banana and rice, which occupy
lithologies were transformed with Table 3 data. N75% of the area of the Daule aquifer, while the lowest rating (0) was
. The highest rating of 100 is assigned to the Quaternary alluvial and assigned to the areas occupied by forests, which assumes a null influ-
colluvial deposits. The rating of 70 is assigned to the areas of Pichilingue ence on the contamination potential.
formation from the Pleistocene age, characterised by high permeable Non-agricultural land cover, urban areas and several areas with in-
river sediments. Composed of medium to high permeability materials dustrial or commercial activities received the rating 75. The resulting
mainly sandstone, the Balzar formation received the rating 60. map is shown in Fig. 4.

4.4. Topography (T) 4.6. Implementation of a monitoring programme

Topographic maps (scale 1:25,000) were used to evaluate the per- Based on a set of 67 monitoring wells and assuming an average
cent slope of the land surface. SI ratings of Table 2 data were assigned range variogram of 6 km (the distance beyond which the variable is un-
to the correspondent ranges. correlated), we can evaluate the importance of each well in the spatial

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 5

A – A’

B – B*

Fig. 2. Geological formations in Daule aquifer, with two geological profiles.

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
6 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

Fig. 3. Hydrographical network in aquifer of Daule.

Table 3
Aquifer media classes and respective ratings using in SI method.
Table 2
Depth, recharge and topography classes and respective ratings using in SI method. Massive shale 1–3 (2)
Metamorphic/igneous 2–5 (3)
Depth (m) Rating R (mm) Rating Topogaphy (%) Rating
Weathered metamorphic/igneous 3–5 (4)
b1.5 10 b51 1 b2 10 Glacial till 4–6 (5)
1.5–4.6 9 51–102 3 2–6 9 Bedded sandstone, limestone and shale sequences 5–9 (6)
4,6–9.1 7 102–178 6 6–12 5 Massive sandstone 4–9 (6)
9.1–15.2 5 178–254 8 12–18 3 Massive limestone 4–9 (8)
15.2–22.9 3 N254 9 N18 1 Sand and gravel 4–9 (8)
22.9–30.5 2 Basalt 2–10 (9)
N30.5 1 Karst limestone 9–10 (10)

Note: The ratings are multiplied by 10. Note: The ratings are multiplied by 10; typical ratings between brackets.

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 7

Table 4 Table 5
Estimated values of N and P fertilisers using in land use activities in Guayas River basin Weighting system using in SI method.
(from Borbor-Cordova et al., 2006).
Parameters Depth Recharge Aquifer media Topograhy land use
Land use N fertiliser kg/ha/year P fertiliser Kg/ha/year
Weight 0.186 0.212 0.259 0.121 0.222
Permanent crops 99 13
Annual crops 58 6
Cocoa and coffee 90 8 representativeness of the Daule aquifer by calculating a representative
Banana 250 20
index RK as follows:
Maize 46 5
Sugar cane 140 20
Rice 68 0 σ K1 2 −σ K 2
RK ¼ ð1Þ
Pastures 0 0 σK2
Forests 0 0

whereσ 2 k is the kriging variance calculated with n points.σ 2 k1 is the

kriging variance calculated with n-1 points.

Fig. 4. Land Use ranges and corresponding ratings according to SI, in Daule aquifer.

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
8 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

Fig. 5. SI map of Daule aquifer.

4.7. Calculation of SI index and discussion irrigation perimeters and due to high recharge rates. Where urban, in-
dustrial or commercial areas exist, the alluvial deposits classification de-
Following parameter mapping, the vulnerability map was obtained creases drastically to extremely low vulnerability (index 5–30).
by overlaying the individual maps in a GIS and calculating the indices However, the area of forests and semi natural zones is classified as mod-
on a fine mesh (grid spacing of 25 m). For each grid, SI was calculated erate to low vulnerability (index 50–60). The alluvial deposits in the
through the weighted sum of the parameters, in turn based on the south-eastern part coincide with areas of superficial aquatic habitats
values listed in Table 5. The resulting map is displayed in Fig. 5. and forests, and are classified as moderate to high vulnerability (index
Six value-based categories were considered, and they reflect a qual- 60–70).
itative vulnerability evaluation ranging from “extremely low” to “very Large areas of the Pichilingue formation in the eastern part of the
high” (Fig. 6). aquifer they are classified as moderate to highly vulnerable. This is
A large part of the central quaternary alluvial deposits unit is classi- mainly due to: i.) the lower net recharge rates (class 102–178) compar-
fied as “highly” vulnerable (index 70–80) to contamination. This high ing with higher class occurring in the alluvial area; and ii.) although
vulnerability results from the presence of dominant paddy fields and with less influence, to a deeper water table) in the north-eastern part

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 9

F
Frequency SI
0
000
80

0
000
70

60 0
000

50 0
000

0
000
40
50
0,2%
%
30 0
000

0
000
20
24
4,4%
%
0
000
10
1
11,7%
% 9 %
9,3%
0 2,4%
% 2% 0
30
0 30
0 40 40
0 5
50 50
0 6
60 60
0 7
70 70
0 80
8 80
0 90
S
SI(Class)

Fig. 6. Classes of vulnerability in Daule aquifer using SI method.

of the aquifer. Similarly to the alluvial deposits, the influence of land use
is also fundamental for the variability of the magnitude of the vulnera-
bility index as seen in areas where forests, aquatic and semi natural en-
vironments exist.
The majority of the Balzar formation situated in the western part of
the aquifer is classified as low vulnerability (index 40–50) where the
main land use is forests and semi-natural zones, and there are bodies
of water. However, the presence of aquatic environments contributes
to the increase of SI in some areas up to moderate to low (index 50–
60). The parameter net recharge has a contributing value for the SI cal-
culation in the interval of 102–178 mm.
Finally, the flat topography that is common throughout the aquifer
(slopes b 2%) contributes considerably to the high vulnerability of the
groundwater in the Daule aquifer.
In short, a great majority of the aquifer is in high risk of contamina-
tion by nitrates on groundwater if good agriculture practices are not ap-
plied (FAO, 2004). Hence, we argue that the implementation of a
network to control the nitrates concentrations is vital to promote the
sustainability of groundwater sources suitable for drinking purposes.
Notwithstanding, the level of uncertainty of the SI map is considered
high because of the lack of information for characterising the different
layers, especially recharge and depth to water maps, where the relative
absence of spatially regular distributed data is a key issue. The conse-
quence is generating errors and high levels of uncertainty in the estima-
tion in areas where there is scarce information available, the
implementation of a representative monitoring network is an urgent
step to fulfill the gap in data towards the creation of a more reliable SI
map.
Therefore a monitoring network is proposed by calculating the
representative index RK by using Eq. 1 and the 67 wells represented
in Fig. 7.
Considering a RK threshold of 4, the most representative wells for
NO3 measurements for SI map validation are the red points represented
in Fig. 7.
These results will help decision-makers to improve sampling cam- Fig. 7. Monitoring network of aquifer of Daule (Red points are the selected points to be
paigns by identifying undersampled areas as well as for the declustering used for NO3 measurements for SI map validation). (For interpretation of the references
of the data in order to obtain representative data to validate SI map. to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004
10 L. Ribeiro et al. / Science of the Total Environment xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

5. Conclusions International Conference on Future Groundwater Resources at Risk, 35–44. CVRM

publ., Lisbon, Portugal.
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The application of the susceptibility index for diffuse agricultural GeoSpatial Visual Analytics NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C. Environ-
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This work was sponsored by Project PROMETEO from the Secretary Aquífero de Moura-Ficalho, Tese de Mestrado em Georrecursos. Instituto Superior
of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Republic of Ecuador Técnico, Lisboa.
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(SENESCYT) in the context of the project strengthening the national ca- SIG na Avaliação da Vulnerabilidade Aquífera e Cartografia da Contaminação Agrícola
pabilities in quantitative hydrogeology: concepts, techniques and por Pesticidas e Nitratos na Região do Ribatejo’, in Actas do Seminário “A
methods, which takes place in CADS-ESPOL, Guayaquil, Ecuador. The as- Hidroinformática em Portugal”, ed. CDROM, 16p. LNEC, Lisboa.
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sistance of Ana Silva, Ana Buxo and Teresa Melo was deeply appreciated. ola Internal report. ERSHA/CVRM, Instituto Superior Ténico Lisbon, Portugal, p. 12.
Ribeiro, L., Rueda, O.M., Betancur, T., 2011. Métodos geoestadísticos e índice de
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Please cite this article as: Ribeiro, L., et al., Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the Daule aquifer, Ecuador, using the susceptibility index
method, Sci Total Environ (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.004