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

Accurate characterization of aquifers remains challenging for large-scale systems because of the spatial heterogeneity of hydraulic properties and temporal variability of hydrologic inputs. This study highlights the importance of integrating geological, hydrogeological and geophysical approaches to characterize an aquifer and evaluate groundwater productivity. Data from geological maps, drill logs, a pumping test, vertical electrical soundings (VES) and different field hydrogeological studies were combined and applied to a heavily extracted aquifer system—Lake Haramaya watershed, Ethiopia. From the geological characterization, the aquifer was found to be a single heterogeneous and anisotropic unconfined unit. Significant differences were found between the three-dimensional geological models of the aquifer developed from the drill logs and VES data; the VES data were likely affected by moisture content. The pumping-test and VES data were combined to estimate transmissivity (T; 126.5 ± 25.8 m²/day) and hydraulic conductivity (K; 4.1 ± 1.0 m/day). This combined use allowed for a reduction in uncertainty (40.1% for T and 33.3% for K) compared with values estimated from the VES data alone. The combined approach also allowed for much greater spatial coverage and a higher resolution characterization of the aquifer. The available volume of groundwater resource in the system was estimated at ~0.62 ± 0.09 km³. The groundwater extraction rate was ~30,120 m³/day, approximately double the estimated sustainable yield of the aquifer (15,720 m³/day). This showed that the current exploitation rate could exhaust groundwater resources in 27–32 years and should be reduced by 50% to ensure sustainability of the groundwater resource.