Plan de establecimiento de Área de Protección Hídrica APH para el páramo de la comunidad de Salamalag Chico, parroquia Guangaje, cantón Pujilí, provincia de Cotopaxi

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a Water Protection Area Establishment Plan (WPAEP) for Salamalag paramo located in Chico community, Pujilí county, Cotopaxi province, with an area of 47.41 ha. On-site visits were planned to establish GPS points and perform georeferencing for the study area, this was used for the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) developed in ArcGIS software 10.3 version, using contour lines to determine the altitude, type of climate and hydrology of the study area. In addition, it was important to categorize the current land use through a supervised classification and the maximum likelihood method to identify the current status of the area, after its deterioration throughout several years and a recovery period in the last five years. As required by the community, the PEAPH was prepared with a participatory and consensual formulation of programs and planning projects in the short, medium and long term. As a result, it was possible to establish a property with water wealth which contains floodable and humid recovering grassland due to its vegetation cover; and a PEAPH that will allow articulating and carrying out programs and projects which facilitate the process of declaring the Water Protection Area, to ensure the security and food sovereignty for the community. It is recommended to implement the complete PEAPH in favor of the community development.