Proposal for operating rules of a Qocha for water use purposes

Miranda-Dávila M.; Ruíz-Olarte W.; Samaniego A.A. · Proceedings of the LACCEI international Multi-conference for Engineering, Education and Technology (2022) · DOI: 10.18687/laccei2022.1.1.389

Resumen

In the Peruvians high Andean areas, structures for traditional use to store water with recharge purposes have been identified; these are small reservoirs called Qochas. In these areas, the only water source is rain, which occurs during the year's wet season. The high Andean inhabitants identify the Qochas as sources of water to be used during the seasons and dry times. This work presents a proposal for operating rules of a Qocha to have water resources for use by the high Andean inhabitants, maintaining its filtration function as part of the rainwater harvesting. The process included the characterization of the operation of a Qocha through operation simulations to define the stored volume, discharge volume, and infiltration. Four different climatic scenarios were considered, namely wet, dry, and their combination, to identify the volume stored and the minimum infiltration. These results make it possible to propose an operation rule to have a usable volume while the Qocha maintains its original functions and purposes in water harvesting. The methodology was applied to a Qocha located in the Department of Ayacucho at 3700 m.a.s.l. The results show that the beneficiaries of the area of influence can take advantage of part of the stored volume during the dry season without taking away its function in rainwater harvesting.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas