A GIS-Based DRASTIC Model for Assessing Phreatic Aquifere of Bekalta (Tunisian Sahel)

Abstract

The phreatic aquifer of Bekalta experienced a progressive degradation of water resources over time: using increasingly important waters for irrigation and drinking water, nitrate pollution, salinization... This aquifer is of great economic importance because it is used for irrigation and domestic consumption. Vulnerability map to nitrate pollution is a necessary tool to developing management to preserve the quality of groundwater. This study utilized the Geographic Information System technique and the DRASTIC model to assess the vulnerability of groundwater resources to contamination. The Geographic Information System (GIS) technology represents the best method to solve the main problems in the vulnerability survey. Indeed is allowed for swift organisation, quantification, and interpretation of large volumes of hydrological data with computer accuracy and minimal risk of human errors. The Visio model was exported and loaded into an ESRI Geodatabase in ArcCatalog as defined by the UML model. The purpose of this geodatabase is data harmonization process within modeling groundwater vulnerability to pollution. The resulting map shows evidence for three categories of vulnerability (low, middle and high). The resultant vulnerability map showed the predominant of moderately vulnerability class on the most of the Bekalta region which occupying an area of 68%. The low and high groundwater vulnerability classes occupy respectively an area of 30% and 2% of the total surface of the study area.