Characterization of the river basin Canoabo in the state Carabobo, Venezuela. I. Climatic analysis and of water production

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to characterize the climate and water production in a watershed of river Canoabo, Venezuela, that has incomplete and scarce information, combining conventional methods with a digital elevation model, and simulations models like EPIC, SWAT, Baldia and co-Krigging, to reach quick and satisfactory mappable products. Results showed that temperature and evapotranspiration follow the contour lines and an elevation function, which range from 130 m to near 1 700 m.o.s.l. Rainfall is rather uniform throughout the watershed, only a noticeable increase occurs with elevation, but affecting drastically the number of wet months which range from 6 in the lower valleys to 10 or more in the high mountains. The average annual water production in the watershed is 36.7 x 106 m3. The contribution to water production of the high mountains is notorious, not only for the more positive water balance but also due to the dense cover of the forest reducing runoff in comparison to the pasture lands lower down. The combination of conventional methods together with models that helps predicting and mapping variables that were scarce, supports the idea of trustable results.