title: Territorial approach to increased energy consumption of water extraction from depletion of a highlands Mexican aquifer.
abstract: This work proposes a method to estimate increased energy consumption of pumping caused by a drawdown of groundwater level and the equivalent energy consumption of the motor-pump system in an aquifer under intensive exploitation. This method has been applied to the Valley of Toluca aquifer, located in the Mexican highlands, whose intensive exploitation is reflected in a decline in the groundwater level of between 0.10 and 1.6 m/year. Results provide a summary of energy consumption and a map of energy consumption isopleths showing the areas that are most susceptible to increases in energy consumption due to pumping. The proposed method can be used to estimate the effect of the intensive exploitation of the Valley of Toluca aquifer on the energy consumption of groundwater extraction. Finding reveals that, for the year 2006, groundwater extraction in the urban zone required 2.39 times more energy than the conditions observed 38 years earlier. In monetary terms, this reflects an increase of USD$ 3 million annually, according to 2005 energy production costs.
authors.affiliation: Centro Interamericano de Recursos del Agua, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Cerro de Coatepec, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, CP 50110 Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico. crfonsecao@uaemex.mx
authors.forename: Carlos Roberto
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.forename: María Vicenta
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Esteller
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Díaz-Delgado
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D060587:Groundwater; D008800:Mexico; D014507:Urbanization; D014881:Water Supply / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Energy consumption isopleths; Groundwater level drawdown; Groundwater pumping; Groundwater pumping costs