Resumen de La contaminación por nitratos del Acuífero Aluvial del Ebro y su influencia en la eutrofización del Río Ebro (tramo El Bocal - Presa de Pina)
Néstor Jiménez Torrecilla, Jorge Pedro Galve Arnedo, L. Gómez Zaera, Javier Fuentes Retamar
Nitrate from agricultural activities that loads the Ebro River in its central sector, were estimated usinghydrogeological information on the Ebro Alluvial Aquifer, and compared to urban and industrialsources in the same area. Impacts of Nitrate loads on river eutrophication were deduced from historical available data as well as from a profile sampling in September 2002 (low water period of theEbro River). Eutrophication showed a highly seasonal pattern, related to the seasonality of river discharges and, to a minor extent, the seasonality of Nitrate loads from aquifer. Nitrate concentrationsin the river were a function not only of non point and point Nitrate sources, but also of point sourcePhosphate loads and self depuration biological reactions inside the river, which were found to betemperature dependant. Mitigation of eutrophication in the Ebro river requires the establishment ofbuffer strips to diminish Nitrate pollution from the aquifer, as well as the implementation of nutrientoriented tertiary treatment facilities in the urban and industrial sewages around Zaragoza.
