The Berlín páramo and the Tona River basin are more than just beautiful landscapes. They are vital ecosystems that provide water to thousands of people in Santander and Norte de Santander. However, human activities in both ecosystems modify land cover and generate waste that affects the sustainable supply of water in terms of quantity and quality.
Agriculture is one of the main economic activities in these territories, with the Berlin moorland being the second largest producer of spring onions in the country. However, there is considerable scope for harmonizing the practices associated with this crop with soil and water protection.
Sustainable ideas
Given this situation and the importance of these ecosystems, the Water Resources and Environmental Sanitation Research Group (GPH) at the Industrial University of Santander is working on a project entitled ‘Evaluation of strategies for the sustainability of hydrological services in high mountain ecosystems: The Berlin Case, Tona (Santander)’, an interdisciplinary initiative involving professors from Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Chemistry.
The project has three areas of work. The first consists of implementing a participatory monitoring methodology for water supply services in the Tona River basin. The second focuses on evaluating sustainable agricultural practices for growing spring onions in the Páramo de Berlín, through the use of organic fertilization and localized irrigation in experimental plots. Finally, a bioadsorbent will be developed from lignocellulosic biomass, designed to capture nitrogen compounds present in contaminated water sources and reuse them in the fertilization of this same crop.
The UIS GPH has been working on these issues since 2018, after exploring the effects of land use on the flow and quality of water supplied by the páramo ecosystem.
“The Berlin páramo is a strategic ecosystem for the region, as it provides hydrological services known as water regulation and supply services; that is, based on the hydrological cycle, vegetation with specific characteristics captures water. Subsequently, the páramo soil allows water to be stored, retained, and released very slowly, so that when we have periods of low rainfall, the water stored in the soil is supplied to surface sources or recharges aquifers,” explains Edgar Ricardo Oviedo Ocaña, professor at the School of Civil Engineering and member of the Water Resources and Environmental Sanitation Research Group (GPH).
The GPH conducts research and knowledge appropriation on issues related to water supply, quality, and management, as well as the prevention and control of environmental pollution. It is made up of researchers with experience in topics related to hydrology, climatology, hydrogeology, water quality, water supply, and wastewater and solid waste treatment.
Implementation of alternatives
The methodology for participatory monitoring of hydrological services in the Tona River basin, which is being developed in the first work area, will strengthen the analysis of the effects of land use on water regulation and supply, facilitating decision-making by community and institutional actors who contribute to water security.
Professor Oviedo Ocaña explains that, due to human activities in a basin, some hydrological services may be altered; the idea is to strengthen the monitoring of climate, water flows, and soil properties to improve agricultural practices in the territory and to prioritize areas for conservation or recovery.
The second part of the project will evaluate sustainable agricultural practices in the cultivation of spring onions in the Páramo de Berlín, including organic fertilization and localized irrigation in experimental plots. This project, with the participation of local farmers, will propose alternative production practices that reduce the impact on the ecosystem.
“Previous projects developed by GPH identified that fertilization practices used in green onion cultivation cause nitrogen to accumulate in the soil, which can increase the concentration of this nutrient in water sources, leading to contamination. In addition, this excess fertilization implies an economic loss for farmers because they add more inputs than the plants and soil can assimilate,” says Oviedo Ocaña.
The idea behind the project, explains Oviedo Ocaña, is to evaluate the implementation of organic fertilization and smart irrigation in experimental plots. Using soil moisture measurement equipment, an irrigation system will be employed to supply the water required by crops, avoiding the current excesses of water that occur in this process. In addition, other inputs will be used for fertilization, such as compost obtained from agricultural waste generated in the area.
Finally, the third project will develop, on a laboratory scale, a bioadsorbent derived from lignocellulosic biomass for the capture of nitrogen compounds from contaminated water sources and their subsequent use in the fertilization of green onion crops.
This project is carried out in conjunction with the Faculty of Basic Sciences, through the Center for Environmental Studies and Research (Ceiam), which includes professors in the areas of chemistry and chemical engineering.
This research group focuses on the areas of diagnosis, analysis, and solution of environmental problems, with lines of research in biotechnological processes, alternative energies, environmental management, cleaner production, biodiversity and conservation, water and soil recovery, water resources, air resources, and solid waste.
“These are bioabsorbents similar to small beads, made from lignocellulosic waste. These beads will be designed to capture nitrogen from contaminated water sources and will then be used in a laboratory-scale experiment to analyze whether they are effective in releasing the captured nitrogen in the process of growing spring onions. This will generate a solution for remediating water sources with high nitrogen concentrations and their subsequent use in crop fertilization,” says Oviedo Ocaña.
This project, with its three areas of work and a comprehensive and participatory approach, seeks to respond to key challenges in the Food and Water to Sustain Life Focus Area, including agriculture, water and waste management, and the livelihoods and well-being of communities.
