UC Santa Barbara

Abstract: Approximately 50 percent of the potable, industrial, and agricultural water supply in Venezuela comes from ground water, mined through some 40,000 wells scattered around the country. The majority of the productive aquifers consist of quaternary deposits in mountain valleys and coastal lowlands, all of which are situated in areas with limited or low precipitation. Intensive exploitation of several of these aquifers for the last 30 years has resulted in overdraft conditions and ground water contamination, causing serious socio‐economic consequences in various regions of Venezuela. This paper reviews the quality and quantity aspects of overdrafted aquifers in Venezuela, which can he classified into three major categories: (1) aquifers in the coastal lowlands in the stales of Falcon and Zulia of northern Venezuela: (2) the intermontane Carora and Quibor Valley Aquifers: and (3) aquifers in the Lake Valencia Watershed. If current trends of aquifer overexploitation continue, further water deficits and irreversible environmental damage are predicted.