Vulnerability Analysis to Water-related Hazards in Las Turbias Basin, Argentina

Abstract

Water-related hazards may trigger disasters depending on different people’s and territories’ level of vulnerability. Hydrographic basins are considered as a management unit, where government should consider all potential hazards and risks within territorial planning. In this sense, and to contribute to informed decision-making, it is fundamental to study vulnerability and all its variables. In Las Turbias basin, Santa Fe province (Argentina), 19 variables were selected: constituting the political-institutional, socio-economic, and environmental dimensions. The multi- criteria methodology was used to establish an order of vulnerability in all sectors of the basin. The methodological process required primary and secondary information. Interviews to key actors from institutions, neighborhood organizations, and agricultural producers were carried out. The results indicate differences in vulnerability conditions among different basin sectors for the socio-economic and environmental dimensions. Regarding to overall vulnerability, the study points out that the lower-basin sector is more vulnerable than other sectors. Finally, authors discuss how the studied variables and measures could be considered by different stakeholders to reduce the vulnerability in Las Turbias basin.

Keywords

• vulnerabilidad, cuenca, multicriterio, desastres, argentina