Caracterización hidrogeológica preliminar, evaluación de recursos hídricos y vulnerabilidad a la contaminación del acuífero kárstico de la Sierra de la Utrera (provincia de Málaga)

The sierra de Utrera aquifer constitutes a natural laboratory to investigate karst media, which discharge occurs through only one spring, the Hedionda spring, without pumping of groundwater. From November 2010 to May 2011, discharge and several chemical components of the spring water were monitored which permitted to know the aquifer characteristics. The temporal evolution of the concentration and the values of these parameters and the intensity of natural fluorescence of dissolve organic matter too, show variations related to the rainfall. These facts indicate that the aquifer has a typically karstic hydrogeological behaviour. Besides, this preliminary hydrogeological study has been completed with the groundwater resource assessment using APLIS method, which determines the spatial recharge of aquifer from his physical properties (soil, slope, litology and infiltration), and with the contamination vulnerability mapping by means COP method. Moreover, it has carry out one artificial tracers test to know the flux direction in the aquifer.