RESUMO
Design and redesign of water quality monitoring networks were evaluated for two similarly sized watersheds in the tropical Andes via optimization techniques using geographic information system technology (GIS) and a matter-element analysis of 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD5) and total suspended solids (TSS). This resulted in a flexible, objectively based design for a 1128-km2 watershed without prior water quality data (La Miel River), and a network redesign of a 1052-km2 watershed with historical water quality monitoring (Chinchiná River). Monitoring design for the undocumented basin incorporated mathematical expressions for physical, anthropological, and historical factors-and was based on clear objectives for diagnosis and intervention of water pollution. Network redesign identified network redundancy, which resulted in a 64% reduction in the number of water quality monitoring stations along the channel, and a 78% reduction of stations throughout the basin. Most tropical drainage basins throughout the world have little to no prior water quality data. But even in well-studied drainage basins like the Chinchiná River, which is among the most thoroughly studied basins in Colombia, redesign of historical and existing monitoring networks will become a standard tool to advance the restoration of polluted surface waters, not only in Colombia, but also throughout the world.