Paute River Basin (Ecuador)
Hydrology
The Paute River has an average flow of 114 m3/s and an average water yield of 23 l/s per km2 before the entrance of the Amaluza reservoir in the lower part of the basin (hydrometric station “Paute DJ Palmira”, area = 5,016 km2). The average precipitation and the surface runoff are 1114 mm and 719 mm per year, respectively. This means that the average annual runoff coefficient, after its confluence with the Palmira river, is 0.65. Hydrologically, the páramo is one of the most important water suppliers for downstream population, mainly due to the high water retention of its soils and the constant precipitation it receives throughout the year (Buytaert et al., 2004; Buytaert et al., 2006; Célleri and Feyen, 2009). Table 3 describes hydrological information at different areas within the basin.
Table 3: Hydrological information
Source: CG Paute, 2008.
References and further reading:
Bendix, J., Rollenbeck, R., Göttlicher, D., and Cermak, J. (2006). Cloud occurrence and cloud properties in Ecuador. Clim. Res. 30, 133–147.
Buytaert, W., De Bièvre, B., Wyseure, G., and Deckers, J. (2004). The use of the linear reservoir concept to quantify the impact of changes in land use on the hydrology of catchments in the Andes. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 8, 108–114.
Buytaert, W., Célleri, R., De Bièvre, B., Cisneros, F., Wyseure, G., Deckers, J., Hofstede, R. (2006). Human impact on the hydrology of the Andean páramos
Earth-Science Reviews, 79 (1-2), pp. 53-72. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2006.06.002.
Buytaert, W., and De Bièvre, B. (2012). Water for cities: The impact of climate change and demographic growth in the tropical Andes. Water Resources Research, 48, W08503. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR011755.
Campozano, L., Célleri, Ro., Trachte, K., Bendix, J., and Samaniego, E. (2016). Rainfall and Cloud Dynamics in the Andes: A Southern Ecuador Case Study. Advances in Meteorology. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/3192765.
Célleri, R., Willems, P., Buytaert, W., and Feyen, J. (2007). Space–time rainfall variability in the Paute basin, Ecuadorian Andes. Hydrological Processes, 21, 3316–3327. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6575.
Célleri, R., and Feyen, J. (2009). The hydrology of tropical Andean ecosystems: Importance, knowledge status, and perspectives. Mt. Res. Dev. 29, 350–355, doi:10.1659/mrd.00007.
Célleri, R., Buytaert, W., De Bièvre, B., Tobón, C., Crespo, P., Molina, J., and Feyen, J. (2010). Understanding the hydrology of tropical Andean ecosystems through an Andean Network of Basins. IAHS-AISH, 336, 209–212. https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.4187.3608.
Coltorti, M., and Ollier, C.D. (2000). Geomorphic and tectonic evolution of the Ecuadorian Andes. Geomorphology 32, 1-19.
Consejo de Gestión de Aguas de la Cuenca del Paute, CG Paute (2008). Plan maestro de la Cuenca del Río Paute.
Hall, M.L., and Beate, B. (1991). El vulcanismo Plio-Quaternario en los Andes del Ecuador. El paisaje Volcanico de la Sierra Ecuatoriana. Estudios Geograficos, vol. 4, pp. 5–17
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Cencos, INEC (2001). VI Censo de Población y V de Vivienda 2001, Resultados Definitivos, Resumen Nacional.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Cencos, INEC (2007). Proyecciones de la Población Ecuatoriana por Áreas y Años Calendario, según Provincias y Cantones Período 2001-2010.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC (2013). The Physical Science Basis.
Noblet, C., Lavenu, A., and Schneider, F. (1988). Etude géodynamique s'un bassin intramontagneux tertiaire sur décrochements dans les Andes du sud de l'Equateur: l'example du bassin de Cuenca. Géodynamique 3, 117–138.
Sierra, R. (1999). Propuesta preliminar de un sistema de clasificación de vegetación para el Ecuador continental. Proyecto INEFAN/GEF-BIRF y EcoCiencia. Quito, Ecuador.
Unidad de Manejo para la Cuenca del Río Paute, UMACPA (1995). Estudios Geomorfológico de la Dinámica de los Principales Procesos Erosivos y de Sedimentación de la Cuenca del Río Paute. Cuenca-Ecuador.
Vanacker, V., Molina, A., Govers, G., Poesen, J., and Deckers, J. (2007). Spatial variation of suspended sediment concentrations in a tropical Andean river system: The Paute River, southern Ecuador. Geomorphology 87, 53-67.
Vuille, M., Bradley, R.S., and Keimig, F. (2000). Climate variability in the andes of Ecuador and its relation to tropical Pacific and Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies. J. Clim. 13, 2520–2535.
