This publication provides guidance to water-sector decision makers and planners on how to deal with the quality dimension of groundwater resources management in the World Bank's client countries. There is growing evidence of increasing pollution threats to groundwater and some well-documented cases of irreversible damage to important aquifers. This guide has been produced in the belief that groundwater pollution hazard assessment must become an essential part of environmental best practice for water supply utilities. The guide is particularly relevant for the World Bank's Latin American and Caribbean Region, where many countries have initiated major changes to modernize their institutional and legal framework for water resources management, but may not yet have considered groundwater at the same level as surface water, because of lack of awareness and knowledge of groundwater issues and policy options.

La superficie mundial bajo siembra directa (SD) se ha incrementado en los últimos años. Actualmente ocupa alrededor de 1.000.000 de km2 con la mitad de esta área ubicada en Sudamérica. En Argentina, 250.000 km2 (alrededor del 70% del área total cultivada) están bajo SD. La aplicación masiva de este sistema de manejo del suelo fue llevada a cabo sin evaluar cuidadosamente su impacto en las propiedades físicas del suelo. Algunos autores reportaron desarrollo de estructura laminar bajo SD, lo cual es un potencial impedimento para la entrada de agua. La anisotropía de la conductividad hidráulica saturada (Ks) se debe generalmente a la estructura del suelo, que puede presentar un patrón de macroporos con un sesgo direccional. En el presente trabajo, se estudió la estructura y la anisotropía en la Ks de tres suelos de la región pampeana argentina de diferentes texturas bajo SD. El suelo franco y el suelo franco limoso presentaron estructura laminar en los primeros 10 cm del suelo, con una Ks vertical (Ksv) cinco veces menor a la Ks horizontal (Ksh). El suelo franco arenoso presentó estructura en bloques, con Ksv mayor a la Ksh. Este suelo tuvo la mayor Ksv entre los suelos estudiados. Los resultados mostraron que los efectos de la SD sobre la estructura del suelo y las propiedades hidráulicas relacionadas dependen de la textura del mismo, y que el suelo franco arenoso alcanzó mejores condiciones que los suelos más finos, bajo SD. | Worldwide, no tillage (SD) area has been increasing continuously in the last few years. Currently this soil management system occupies 1,000,000 km2 of the global area with one-half of it located in South America. In Argentina, 250,000 km2 (about 70% of the entire cultivated area of the country) is under SD. The massive application of this management practice was carried out without carefully evaluating its impacts on soils. Surface laminar structure, a potential impediment for water entry into soils, has been reported in soils under SD by some authors. Anisotropy of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is generally due to the structure of the soil, which may be laminar or platy thus exhibiting a pattern of macropores with a distinct directional bias. Some authors have studied Ks anisotropy in soils with different results. In this research, we studied Ks anisotropy and structure of 3 different textured soils from pampas region, Argentina, under SD. The loam and the silty loam soil presented laminar structure in the first 10 cm with Ks vertical (Ksv) 5 times lower than Ks horizontal (Ksh). The sandy loam soil presented blocky structure, with higher Ksv than Ksh. This soil had the highest Ksv value. The results showed that SD system effects on soil structure and related hydraulic properties depends on soil texture, and that the sandy loam soil reached better conditions than the silty and the silty loam soils, under this system. | Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales

Los suelos zonales de la Pampa Ondulada son Argiudoles Tipicos y Verticos los cuales se diferencian en la composicion mineralogica de su fraccion arcilla. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar las vinculaciones entre la tasa de movimiento del agua edafica con algunos atributos relacionados con la composicion mineralogica de la fraccion arcilla, en distintos suelos representativos de la region mencionada. Se tomaron muestras de los horizontes A, BA/BE, Bt y BC de dos Argiudoles Tipicos de un Argiudol Vertico, realizando sobre las mismas determinaciones relacionadas con la cantitad y tipo de las arcillas presentes. A su vez mediante diferentes tecnicas se evaluaron el sistema poroso del suelo y el movimiento de agua edafica. En los horizontes Bt, aquellos parametros que integran el tipo y el contenido de arcillas, como el COLE y la CIC, mostraron estar mejor vinculados con el movimiento de agua edafica que cuando se considero unicamente el procentaje de arcilla. La distinta porosidad estructural generada dentro de los agregados de los horizontes Bt, origino diferencias en su difusividad y conductividad hidraulica no saturada, a contenidos de humedad por encima del 50% de saturacion. En aguellos horizontes con mayor actividad biologica y menor contenido de arcilla, el movimiento de agua se realizo en forma independiente de las caracteristicas de las arcillas presentes. | Typic and Vertic Argiudolls, which differ in the composition of their clay fraction, are the zonal soils in the Rolling Pampa of Argentina. The aim of this work has been to analize the relationship between water movement and diverse soil properties in some representative soils of the Rolling Pampa, differing in their clay mineralogy. The A, BA/BE, Bt and BC horizons of thow Typic and one Vertic Argiudolls were sampled and a number of properties related with clay content and clay type were measured. Soil porosity and soil water movement were also evaluated through different techniques. In the Bt horizons, those parameters integrating clay type together with clay content, as COLE and CEC, have shown a better relationship with soil water movement than considering clay quantity alone. Clods from Bt horizons of studied soils have shown to differ in their internal structural porosity and this led to different diffusivity and unsaturated (at 50% water holding capacity) hydraulic conductivity results. In upper soil horizons, characterized by a lower clay content and a greater biological activity, water movement was not related to clay mineralogy.

Se desarrolla un modelo basado en la hipótesis de la distribución logarítmica normal del tamaño de poro para describir la curva de retención de agua. Los sustratos, de características muy diversas, se caracterizan aplicando una nueva metodología de laboratorio, que proporciona un elevado control de errores. Para evaluar la validez del modelo planteado, se compara con el modelo de Van Genuchten (1980) y con dos modelos polinómicos de tercer grado. Se plantea una simplificación del modelo log-normal reduciendo la integral doble a una sencilla. Respecto al valor de la porosidad se consideran dos variantes, en una se considera el valor calculado por el modelo, y en la otra el valor experimental entra como dato en el proceso de cálculo. Los modelos se comparan estudiando la falta de ajuste de los datos a cada modelo, y por el análisis de los residuos. El modelo log-normal presenta un poder predictivo similar al de Van Genuchten y superior a los dos modelos polinómicos. La simplificación planteada reduce la complejidad del cálculo manteniendo la fiabilidad. Se facilita el cálculo si se deja que el modelo calcule los valores de desplazamiento y escalado, comparando posteriormente su suma con el valor experimental de la porosidad.

International audience | Typic and Vertic Argiudolls, which differ in the composition of their clay fraction, are the zonal soils in the Rolling Pampa of Argentina. The aim of this work has been to analize the relationship between water movement and diverse soil properties in some representative soils of the Rolling Pampa, differing in their clay mineralogy. The A, BA/BE, Bt and BC horizons of thow Typic and one Vertic Argiudolls were sampled and a number of properties related with clay content and clay type were measured. Soil porosity and soil water movement were also evaluated through different techniques. In the Bt horizons, those parameters integrating clay type together with clay content, as COLE and CEC, have shown a better relationship with soil water movement than considering clay quantity alone. Clods from Bt horizons of studied soils have shown to differ in their internal structural porosity and this led to different diffusivity and unsaturated (at 50% water holding capacity) hydraulic conductivity results. In upper soil horizons, characterized by a lower clay content and a greater biological activity, water movement was not related to clay mineralogy. | Los suelos zonales de la Pampa Ondulada son Argiudoles Tipicos y Verticos los cuales se diferencian en la composicion mineralogica de su fraccion arcilla. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar las vinculaciones entre la tasa de movimiento del agua edafica con algunos atributos relacionados con la composicion mineralogica de la fraccion arcilla, en distintos suelos representativos de la region mencionada. Se tomaron muestras de los horizontes A, BA/BE, Bt y BC de dos Argiudoles Tipicos de un Argiudol Vertico, realizando sobre las mismas determinaciones relacionadas con la cantitad y tipo de las arcillas presentes. A su vez mediante diferentes tecnicas se evaluaron el sistema poroso del suelo y el movimiento de agua edafica. En los horizontes Bt, aquellos parametros que integran el tipo y el contenido de arcillas, como el COLE y la CIC, mostraron estar mejor vinculados con el movimiento de agua edafica que cuando se considero unicamente el procentaje de arcilla. La distinta porosidad estructural generada dentro de los agregados de los horizontes Bt, origino diferencias en su difusividad y conductividad hidraulica no saturada, a contenidos de humedad por encima del 50% de saturacion. En aguellos horizontes con mayor actividad biologica y menor contenido de arcilla, el movimiento de agua se realizo en forma independiente de las caracteristicas de las arcillas presentes.

Los suelos zonales de la Pampa Ondulada son Argiudoles Típicos y Vérticos los cuales se diferencian en la composición mineralógica de su fracción arcilla. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar las vinculaciones entre la tasa de movimiento del agua edáfica con algunos atributos relacionados con la composición mineralógica de la fracción arcilla, en distintos suelos representativos de la región mencionada. Se tomaron muestras de los horizontes A, BA/BE, Bt y BC de dos Argiudoles Típicos y de un Argiudol Vértico, realizando sobre las mismas determinaciones relacionadas con la cantidad y tipo de las arcillas presentes. A su vez mediante diferentes técnicas se evaluaron el sistema poroso del suelo y el movimiento de agua edáfica. En los horizontes Bt, aquellos parámetros que integran el tipo y el contenido de arcillas, como el COLE y la CIC, mostraron estar mejor vinculados con el movimiento de agua edáfica que cuando se consideró únicamente el porcentaje de arcilla. La distinta porosidad estructural generada dentro de los agregados de los horizontes Bt, originó diferencias en su difusividad y conductividad hidráulica no saturada, a contenidos de humedad por encima del 50% de saturación. En aquellos horizontes con mayor actividad biológica y menor contenido de arcilla, el movimiento de agua se realizó en forma independiente de las características de las arcillas presentes.<br>Typic and Vertic Argiudolls, which differ in the composition of their clay fraction, are the zonal soils in the Rolling Pampa of Argentina. The aim of this work has been to analize the relationship between water movement and diverse soil properties in some representative soils of the Rolling Pampa, differing in their clay mineralogy. The A, BA/ BE, Bt and BC horizons of two Typic and one Vertic Argiudolls were sampled and a number of properties related with clay content and clay type were measured. Soil porosity and soil water movement were also evaluated through different techniques. In the Bt horizons, those parameters integrating clay type together with clay content, as COLE and CEC, have shown a better relationship with soil water movement than considering clay quantity alone. Clods from Bt horizons of studied soils have shown to differ in their internal structural porosity and this led to different diffusivity and unsaturated (at 50% water holding capacity) hydraulic conductivity results. In upper soil horizons, characterized by a lower clay content and a greater biological activity, water movement was not related to clay mineralogy.

Los suelos zonales de la Pampa Ondulada son Argiudoles Típicos y Vérticos los cuales se diferencian en la composición mineralógica de su fracción arcilla. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar las vinculaciones entre la tasa de movimiento del agua edáfica con algunos atributos relacionados con la composición mineralógica de la fracción arcilla, en distintos suelos representativos de la región mencionada. Se tomaron muestras de los horizontes A, BA/BE, Bt y BC de dos Argiudoles Típicos y de un Argiudol Vértico, realizando sobre las mismas determinaciones relacionadas con la cantidad y tipo de las arcillas presentes. A su vez mediante diferentes técnicas se evaluaron el sistema poroso del suelo y el movimiento de agua edáfica. En los horizontes Bt, aquellos parámetros que integran el tipo y el contenido de arcillas, como el COLE y la CIC, mostraron estar mejor vinculados con el movimiento de agua edáfica que cuando se consideró únicamente el porcentaje de arcilla. La distinta porosidad estructural generada dentro de los agregados de los horizontes Bt, originó diferencias en su difusividad y conductividad hidráulica no saturada, a contenidos de humedad por encima del 50% de saturación. En aquellos horizontes con mayor actividad biológica y menor contenido de arcilla, el movimiento de agua se realizó en forma independiente de las características de las arcillas presentes. | Typic and Vertic Argiudolls, which differ in the composition of their clay fraction, are the zonal soils in the Rolling Pampa of Argentina. The aim of this work has been to analize the relationship between water movement and diverse soil properties in some representative soils of the Rolling Pampa, differing in their clay mineralogy. The A, BA/ BE, Bt and BC horizons of two Typic and one Vertic Argiudolls were sampled and a number of properties related with clay content and clay type were measured. Soil porosity and soil water movement were also evaluated through different techniques. In the Bt horizons, those parameters integrating clay type together with clay content, as COLE and CEC, have shown a better relationship with soil water movement than considering clay quantity alone. Clods from Bt horizons of studied soils have shown to differ in their internal structural porosity and this led to different diffusivity and unsaturated (at 50% water holding capacity) hydraulic conductivity results. In upper soil horizons, characterized by a lower clay content and a greater biological activity, water movement was not related to clay mineralogy.

Os sistemas de preparo afetam a estrutura do solo e podem influenciar o armazenamento de água disponível para as plantas. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito de longo prazo (17 anos) dos sistemas de preparo convencional (PC), preparo reduzido (PR) e semeadura direta (SD) sobre os atributos físicos relacionados ao armazenamento e disponibilidade de água de um Argissolo Vermelho com textura média, em Eldorado do Sul, RS. Amostras de solo (0-2,5, 2,5-7,5, 7,5-12,5, 12,5- 17,5cm) foram coletadas numa seqüência ervilhaca/milho. Adicionalmente, amostrou-se uma área sob campo nativo (CN), adjacente à área experimental, como referência à condição natural do solo. O solo em SD apresentou maiores teores de carbono orgânico (CO) na camada superficial e maiores valores de resistência ao penetrômetro em profundidade, em relação ao solo em preparo convencional. Os sistemas de preparo não se diferenciaram quanto ao seu efeito na macro e microporosidade do solo, contudo o revolvimento no PC aumentou a condutividade hidráulica saturada em profundidade. Não se verificou nenhuma restrição física ao desenvolvimento radicular sob os diferentes sistemas de preparo, o que foi comprovado pelos valores de densidade (1,35 a 1,65 Mg m-3), macroporosidade (0,09 a 0,20 m3 m-3) e resistência ao penetrômetro (0,25 a 0,75 MPa). Do ponto de vista hídrico, as curvas de retenção e o volume de água disponível (AD = 10 kPa (capacidade de campo) – 1.500 kPa (ponto de murcha permanente)), não foram influenciados pelos sistemas de preparo, sendo o baixo volume de água disponível (0,05 a 0,09 m3 m-3) relacionado à textura desse solo. Nesse caso, o aumento da taxa de infiltração e a diminuição da evaporação da água decorrente da manutenção dos resíduos vegetais sobre o solo nos sistemas de preparo reduzido e semeadura direta, podem contribuir para uma maior disponibilidade hídrica na fase inicial do estabelecimento das culturas nesses sistemas conservacionistas de manejo em comparação ao preparo convencional. | The tillage systems affect the soil structure, and influence the storage of water available to plants. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of long-term (17 years) of conventional tillage (PC), reduced tillage (PR) and no tillage (SD) on soil physical properties related to water storage in a Loamy Acrisol, in Eldorado do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul State. Soil samples (0-2.5, 2.5-7.5, 7.5-12.5, 12.5-17.5 cm) were collected in a sequence of vetch/corn and in an adjacent native grass field. The soil in SD presented high organic carbon (CO) for the superficial layer and large soil resistance values for depth compared to the conventional tillage. There were no differences among tillage systems of macro and microporosity of the soil, but for PC the saturated hydraulic conductivity increased in depth. No physical restriction to the plant root penetration in the soil under the different tillage systems was verified, which agrees with observation of non-critical observed values of bulk density (1.35 – 1.65 Mg m-3), macroporosity (0.09 – 0.20 m3 m-3) and soil resistance (0.25 – 0.75 MPa). The water retention curves and the available water (AD = 10 kPa (field capacity) – 1.500 kPa (point of permanent wither)) were not influenced by tillage systems, being the low volume of available water (0.05 – 0.09 m3 m-3) related to the texture of this soil. In this case, the increase of the infiltration rate and decrease of water evaporation due to the maintenance of the plant residues on soil surface for reduced tillage and no tillage may contribute to increase availability of water in the initial phase of crop establishment in these systems.

In Brazil, no reliable standard method exists to determine the water retention curve in all available types of substrates for the cultivation of vegetables, mainly for substrates with long and short fibers, such as those of green coconut shell. In this work, the objective was to obtain the substrate water retention curve for the cultivation of vegetables, using a mini Irrigas® sensor. Green coconut substrate was used without composting and with composting during 45; 90; 135 and 180 days while the Plantmax® substrate was used as control in a complete block experimental design with 6 substrates, 11 water tension levels and three replications. For the substrates S0, S45, S90, S135 and S180 the obtained average were: total porosity; 85%; aeration space: 72%; easily available water: 4%; available water: 9%; buffering water: 5% and remaining water: 4%. The aeration space (72%) was indicative that it is convenient to improve the particle size distribution of this substrate, in order to reduce the aeration space to gain water retention capacity. Water tension in the samples was slowly increased by evaporation as the substrate air interface and mini Irrigas® sensors enabled the required water tension measurements, continuously, in three parallel substrate samples for water tensions ranging from zero to 11 kPa. These results make evident the possibility of using the mini Irrigas® sensor for the determination of water retention curves in substrates for growing vegetables, and also opens the possibility of future studies, aiming at comparative tests for other methods. | No Brasil, ainda não existe um método padrão, confiável, para a determinação da curva de retenção de água em todos os tipos de substratos existentes para o cultivo de hortaliças, principalmente para substratos à base de fibras longas e curtas, como é o caso do substrato de coco verde. Assim, neste trabalho, o objetivo foi obter a curva de retenção de água em substratos para o cultivo de hortaliças, utilizando-se um mini sensor Irrigas®. Foram utilizados os substratos de coco verde, sem compostagem, compostado durante 45; 90; 135 e 180 dias e o substrato Plantmax®, utilizado como controle. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos ao acaso no esquema fatorial 6 x 11 (substrato x tensão) com três repetições. Para o substrato S0; S45; S90; S135 e S180 as médias obtidas foram porosidade total: 85%; espaço de aeração: 72%; água facilmente disponível: 4%; água disponível: 9%; água tamponante: 5% e, água remanescente: 4%. O espaço de aeração (72%), foi indicativo de que é conveniente melhorar a distribuição do tamanho de partículas desse substrato, de modo a reduzir o espaço de aeração e aumentar a capacidade de retenção de água. O aumento da tensão de água foi obtido de forma natural, pela evaporação da água das amostras. A utilização do sensor Irrigas® permitiu rapidez na obtenção dos resultados e possibilitou a medição da tensão da água, de maneira contínua e paralela, entre tensões de 0 e 11 kPa, simultaneamente, em três amostras de substrato. Estes resultados tornaram evidente a possibilidade de uso do mini sensor Irrigas® na determinação de curvas de retenção de água em substratos para hortaliças, gerando inclusive perspectivas para a realização de estudos futuros de comparação com outros métodos.