Validation and adjustment of the conceptual hydrogeological model for a wetland of the Pampa Plain, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Understanding the hydrological functioning and the interaction among the different water bodies present in a specific area are essential when planning the rational use of the hydric resource. The aim of the present paper is to validate and adjust the conceptual hydrogeological model for a wetland of the Buenos Aires Pampa Plain through hydrochemical and isotopic techniques. La Brava Wetland Basin (53.6 km(2)) has been selected. La Brava is a shallow and permanent wetland with an area of 4.0 km(2) and a maximum depth of 4.57 m. Samples for physicochemical and isotopic analyses were taken from groundwater, the wetland, and in the inflow and outflow streams. A regular grid was designed for the wetland sampling to measure in situ the main physical and chemical parameters at 5 different depths. The chemical composition of the water in the basin is of sodium bicarbonate type. Hydrochemical and isotopic data allowed the confirmation of the effluent-influent behavior of this wetland. Electrical conductivity analysis in the wetland at different depths shows a possible preferential recharge zone in the contact of the wetland with La Brava Hill, where an important decrease in this parameter was detected. The information obtained indicates that the recharge to the aquifer is influenced by: the rainfall, the wetland discharge, the concentration of surface run-off from the range fringes to inter-range depressions and water input from the fault system present in the quartzites.