Assessment of hydric balance through climatic variables, in the Cazones River Basin, Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

The hydrologic regime and the water catchment capacity of a hydrographic basin depend on the temporal and spatial variation patterns of climatic variables and on the physiographic characteristics of the watershed. In certain regions, where the availability of water depends on the catchment capacity of the watershed, the utilization of effective methods such as the hydric balance has become more frequently used because it enables an estimate of the hydrologic regime, the catchment capacity, and the water flows. It also enables an estimate of the hydrologic processes and the period in which they occurred. In the present work, assessments of the Climatic Hydric Balance (CHB) and of potential evapotranspiration were performed in the Cazones river basin. The calculations followed the Thornthwaite and Mather method based on climatic variables such as temperature and precipitation during the period from 1981 to 2010. As a result of these assessments, it was found that the excess layer of water and the annual runoff were 638.63 mm and 637.02 mm, respectively. Further, the work identified the months that comprise the humid and dry periods, the regime of the climatic variables, and surpluses and deficits of water in the basin during an annual cycle.