Evaluation of Groundwater in the Coastal Portion of Guasave, Sinaloa for White Shrimp Farming (Penaeus vannamei) through VES, Chemical Composition, and Survival Tests

Abstract

We studied the potential of white shrimp farming with groundwater from the coastal aquifer of Guasave, Sinaloa. The use of water from the aquifer in aquaculture represents challenges due to variability in the quality of groundwater. We did twenty-three vertical electrical soundings (VES), performed to guide the search for continental groundwater, obtaining the resistivity of the saturated formation (Ro) and a relationship with resistivity of aquifer water (Rw) = 0.4478 Ro + 0.8371. We obtained ionic content and nutrients from shrimp farming water. Also, a positive correlation was found between the electrical conductivity of the aquifer water (inverse of Rw) with chlorine, sodium, magnesium, and calcium ions in 34 water samples. The analysis of ions and ammonia-nitrogen, nitrates, phosphates, potassium, manganese, and calcium were used to select suitable sites to perform in two shorts bioassays: natural aquifer water and adding KCl and Mg2Cl to simulate diluted seawater. In most natural waters, survival of larvae was higher than 60%, and in simulated seawater survival improved only in two sites. Building the Rw-Ro relation allowed us to infer the quality and suitability of water and the positioning of the most suitable place for drilling. Finally, Rw relation with dissolved ions allowed us to estimate aquifer water quality and reduce uncertainty.