Rainfall/runoff processes in a small peri-urban catchment in the Andes mountains. The Rumihurcu Quebrada, Quito (Ecuador)

Situated at the foot of the Pichincha volcano, the city of Quito is frequen tly subjected to hydroclimatic hazards. In 1995 an 11.2 km(2) watershed, lo cated in the vicinity of the city, was equipped with eight rain gauges and two Row gauges to better. understand the local rainfall/runoff transformati on processes. Rainfall simulation experiments were carried out on more than 40 one-square-metre plots to measure infiltration point-processes. The hig h density of measurement devices allowed us to identify the origin and natu re of the various contributions to runoff for the different physiographic u nits of the watershed: urban area from an altitude of 2800 to 3200 m; farml and, pasture and forested land, and finally paramo above 3900 m. Runoff occ urs mainly in the lower part of the basin and is caused by urbanization; ho wever, the natural soils of this area can also produce Hortonian runoff, wh ich is predominant in a few events. This contribution can be studied throug h rainfall simulation experiments. In the upper natural zone. the younger a nd more permeable soils generate less runoff on the slopes. However, almost permanently saturated contributing areas, which are located in the bottom of the quebradas, may generate flood events, the size of which depends on t he extent of the area concerned. Variations in the runoff coefficients are related first to the baseflow and second to the amount of rainfall in the p revious 24 h. This analysis, which underlines the complexity of a small, pe ri-ulban, volcanic catchment, is a necessary preliminary to runoff modellin g in an area where very few experiments have been carried out on small catc hments. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.