Hydrology & Carbon
Five of the six watersheds of the NDA are tributaries of the length of the Paute river that flows into the Amaluza reservoir and Daniel Palacios hydroelectric dam. Furthermore, the sub-watersheds fall within the Eastern climatic region of the cordillera, and their peak flows occur in the driest months of the central and western portions of the PRW. The topography of the five watersheds is extremely steep: 52% of the terrain has slope greater than 50%.
The NDA’s large area of páramo ‘sponge’ ecosystem is integral to flow regulation for downstream irrigation networks and potable water for growing urban populations. Although the processes are not entirely understood, it is well-accepted that the high soil water retention capacity of páramo (due to high soil carbon) is an invaluable contributor to year-round base-flow, particularly during the pronounced dry season, as Ecuador enjoys only negligible snow or glacial melt each year, relative to other countries.
Páramo conservation has become the subject of national interest in the last decade or so. An increasingly visible advancement of the agricultural frontier upland into the páramo, decreased flow, and increases in biological contamination of streams, have helped raise concerns over future potable water provision for the country’s growing downstream urban populations and irrigation networks.