Effect of Agricultural and Urban Infrastructure on River Basin Delineation and Surface Water Availability: Case of the Culiacan River Basin

Abstract

River basin delineation can be inappropriate to determine surface water availability in a country, even if it is established by its water authority. This is because the effect of agricultural and urban infrastructure in runoff direction is ignored, and the anthropogenic changes in hydrography and topography features distort the runoff. This situation is really important because water rights are granted based on volumes that are not physically accessible. The existence of this problem is demonstrated through a case of study: the Culiacan River Basin in Mexico. To overcome such a situation, this study poses criteria to revise official river basin configurations and to delineate new river basins based on digital elevation models, vector files of agricultural infrastructure, and extensive field verification. Significant differences were noticed in surface water availability calculated under distinct river basin delineations.