We are happy to announce a new lysimeter project. The lysimeters will be used to study arable land with different irrigation strategies. The most common irrigation strategy in this region is waste water irrigation.
To study the effects of different irrigation strategies, 6 undisturbed monoliths will be excavated, on a traditionally managed site. During the experiment, 3 lysimeters will be irrigated with waste water and 3 lysimeters with cleaned water.

This study should answer the following questions:

• Are there any effects on the soil properties?
• Are there differences between the different management types /treatments?
• If irrigation with waste water is a problem or the soil can buffer effects by cleaning mechanisms?
• Are there any differences in the composition of the leachate between the two treatments?
• …

The results should help to develop suitable irrigation strategies.
The managing director of UGT Dr. Sascha Reth visited the campus of the UNAM. There he met the director of the Geological Institute Dr. Ricardo Barragan Manzo and the project leaders Dr. Christina Siebe and Dr. Blanca Prado.

In order to find the most suitable place for the installation of the lysimeter basement, the study area was visited and all possibilities discussed.

The next day we visited the fields near Tlahuelilpan where the monoliths are taken for the experiment. Soil samples were taken to characterize them.

The researchers of UNAM and UGT are looking forward to the first lysimeter station in Central America.