Physicochemical water variations in a big Mexican Hydroelectric dam, Central semi-arid region

Abstract

The Zimapan hydropower plant built in 1995 was the first project to take advantage of Mexico's City wastewater for electric power generation. This tropical reservoir receives pollutants that affect water quality from municipal, agricultural, and industrial wastewater through the Tula and San Juan rivers. The study considered the changes in the physicochemical parameters (surface to 20 m depth) for May (wet warm), November (wet cold-after rains), and February (dry cold) in seven dam sites: two lotic, two transitional, and three lentic sites. Mean values ranges were temperature 20.71-24.38 °C, 1.59-7.56 mg/L dissolved oxygen, Secchi disk transparency 2.26-3.98 m, pH 7.12-8.40, electrical conductivity 48-1334 µS/cm, total nitrogen 14.20-30.74 mg/L, total phosphorus 10.45-15.83 mg/L, and dissolved organic carbon 9.11-20.63 mg/L. In November, all the reservoir surface water was hypoxic due to increased dissolved organic carbon by river input. Even though dissolved oxygen has a seasonal variation, this reservoir has a sustainable fishery of tilapia and black bass (~400 tons/y). The dam is meromictic and hypereutrophic, with seasonal water quality variations with no significant spatial variations. Water quality variation observed in this study can be useful to Mexican decision-makers on water and fisheries management, prevent massive fish kills, and be a support guide for commercial and sport fishers.