Abstract:The north coastal area of Santa Elena has been touristically boosted for about 10 years by the ""Ruta del Spondylus"", previously called ""Ruta del Sol"", which consists of a route or highway that travels along the line coast and delineates most of the Ecuador´s coast, connecting coastal towns of much tourist boom. Rural populations in the north of Santa Elena´s province, do not have water distribution by the state. Some years ago, they have undertaken with the water boards organization, a community work to supply water to their communities. The aim of this paper is to analyze development practices around the use of water, through the evolution of buildings related to tourism, and other strategies that serve to establish a very peculiar development, considering the conservation of natural resources. The study methodology is based on: i) Socioeconomic data of Manglaralto, ii) The evolution of water demand in the aquifer system, iii) the evolution of the territory in its development of buildings related to tourism and iv) the spatial model of the current system that contemplates sustainable practices. The geospatial analysis through geographic information system ArcGIS has been the tool that has allowed to realize observations of the distribution of the buildings during certain periods from 2006 to 2014, in order to establish correlations between aquifer´s production, supported by a research-academic project, and the increase of buildings. The study reflects the interrelation between the water academic research project and the reality of water supply with the development of buildings on the Manglaralto river banks. Thus, the territory-population system has been regulated, and evolves in an interaction between the reality and the academic research contribution, which consider the coastal aquifer water linked to Manglaralto river. Finally, it is noted that the community has carried out sustainable practices such as groundwater recharge, river management, environmental protection of the upper river basin, and the territory organization for its development. |