Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2.1 Methodology
From 2001 to 2003 the main characteristics of the area were determined: climate, soil,
geology, orography, morphology, and hydrology; after analyzing the bibliography and the
data sets of the meteorological stations of the region as well as official charts, field stages of
work were developed to corroborate the information.
Marine and costal characteristic, including tide effects, morphology of the coastal zone, and
accessibility for marine water intake and waste water treatment and disposal were obtained
through the analysis of satellite images and field stays of work. The availability of services
for each potential clam culture zone, including roads (paved and not paved), electricity,
phone and internet availability, human populations and potential workers, were also
established by field surveys.
In order to assess the suitability of each potential site for sustainable clam culture
activities inside Magdalena Bay, we applied the modified index of Lagunas & Ortega
(Lagunas, 2000):
(
)
(
)
(
)
(
)
(
)
(
)
ACS
0.1
+
NMST
0.3
+
AVD
0.15
+
MCAS
0.15
+
AAPD ( 0.3
+
MSK
0.1
x100
CCS
=
2.45
Where:
CCS = Clam Culture Suitability
ACS = Accessibility
NMST = Number of Months with Suitable Temperature for the Clam Culture
AVD = Average Depth
MCAS = Marine Current Average Speed
AAPD = Annual Average Phytoplankton Density
MSK = Marine Substrate Kind
The index of Lagunas & Ortega is the result of empirical field studies developed by the
authors of this paper and by the careful assessment of the ecological, environmental,
socioeconomic and facilities characteristics of the places where the optimal clam aquaculture
activities are currently developed. In order to standardize the values obtained by this index,
it is divided by the empirical value of 2.45. This way values obtained range from 0 to 100.
The rank values are shown in Table 1.
3. Conclusions
After the bibliographic revision and the analysis of satellite images, which were digitalized
in a GIS in which we included climate, vegetation, soil, geological, and geomorphological
characteristics, 7 potential places were identified where clam culture activities could be
performed with the lesser impacts and with more success probability; the sites selected were
Santo Domingo, Adolfo Lopez, Estero San Buto, Estero Chisguete, Punta Cayuco, Puerto
Chale, and Rancho Bueno, which are shown in Figure 7.
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