The effective uses of water in a given hydrographic basin are a function above all of the presence in it of different natural resources such as: land suitable for agriculture, forests, and mineral resources; and, the demand for human and animal use.

Each of these uses has a specific modality, for example:.

Generally it can be considered that the water resources in a hydrographic basin are renewable, and originate almost exclusively from precipitation "Precipitation (meteorology)"), in its various forms over the same basin. The exception to the fact that all water resources can be renewable is constituted by pockets of fossil groundwater, that is, existing aquifers, which currently, due to climatic modifications or orographic changes that have occurred in geological times, no longer have a recharge source. On the other hand, the waters that flow into the aquifer from neighboring basins also form part of the basin's underground water resources.

Precipitation follows the rhythm dictated by the climate of each region, which generally does not coincide with the demands of the various users.

In the planning phase of water resources, it is required to know historical records of a minimum of 15 to 20 years, of the main hydrometeorological variables. It is generally planned considering the water availability of the basin that has a permanence of 75% of the years.

An important factor in the planning of water resources are the costs of the works, both in the construction phase and in their operation on the one hand, and the benefits of investments.

The costs of the works include the costs derived from the impact mitigation programs, if any.

As one of the expected results of planning is the definition of the general dimensions of the works, the costs must be determined parametrically, or in other words establish cost curves for each of the works.

Each of the variables mentioned above has physical limits that cannot be exceeded, for example:

And above all:

The task of the planner, generally a multidisciplinary team, is to harmonize all these variables, maximizing the socio-economic benefit of the interventions considering a time horizon compatible with the useful life of the works.

To carry out this task there are a series of mathematical instruments, related to operations research, such as:

Finally, the configuration of works and uses, variable over time, are analyzed using mathematical simulation models. Verifying the behavior of the set of interventions with synthetic series of hydrological data.

The effective uses of water in a given hydrographic basin are a function above all of the presence in it of different natural resources such as: land suitable for agriculture, forests, and mineral resources; and, the demand for human and animal use.

Each of these uses has a specific modality, for example:.

Generally it can be considered that the water resources in a hydrographic basin are renewable, and originate almost exclusively from precipitation "Precipitation (meteorology)"), in its various forms over the same basin. The exception to the fact that all water resources can be renewable is constituted by pockets of fossil groundwater, that is, existing aquifers, which currently, due to climatic modifications or orographic changes that have occurred in geological times, no longer have a recharge source. On the other hand, the waters that flow into the aquifer from neighboring basins also form part of the basin's underground water resources.

Precipitation follows the rhythm dictated by the climate of each region, which generally does not coincide with the demands of the various users.

In the planning phase of water resources, it is required to know historical records of a minimum of 15 to 20 years, of the main hydrometeorological variables. It is generally planned considering the water availability of the basin that has a permanence of 75% of the years.

An important factor in the planning of water resources are the costs of the works, both in the construction phase and in their operation on the one hand, and the benefits of investments.

The costs of the works include the costs derived from the impact mitigation programs, if any.

As one of the expected results of planning is the definition of the general dimensions of the works, the costs must be determined parametrically, or in other words establish cost curves for each of the works.

Each of the variables mentioned above has physical limits that cannot be exceeded, for example:

And above all:

The task of the planner, generally a multidisciplinary team, is to harmonize all these variables, maximizing the socio-economic benefit of the interventions considering a time horizon compatible with the useful life of the works.

To carry out this task there are a series of mathematical instruments, related to operations research, such as:

Finally, the configuration of works and uses, variable over time, are analyzed using mathematical simulation models. Verifying the behavior of the set of interventions with synthetic series of hydrological data.