Effect of Shatt Al-Arab Salinity on the Groundwater of Al-Fao and Al-Siba in Southern Iraq

Shahad Abdul-Hameed,Amal Jabbar Hatem

doi:10.46717/igj.54.1e.10ms-2021-05-31

Abstract

This study was conducted to estimate the extent of damage to the population in Basra, southern Iraq, specifically the areas adjacent to the Shatt al-Arab and the Arabian Gulf, which are the Al-Fao district and the Al-Siba region. They are affected by the progression of saline water resulting from the lack of water imports and the Karun River interruption, which led to high concentrations of salts in the Shatt Al-Arabs. Consequently, its effect on lands and all life types in these areas requires correcting a map of the study area to drop the groundwater sites as well as calculate the total dissolved salts, electrical conductivity and pH. This study concluded that the groundwater contains very high percentages of total dissolved solids (2880–10415 mg/l) and electrical conductivity (4450–14190 µs/cm). As it has very high salinity, so it is not suitable for drinking, irrigation, or industry. The values of the pH values (7.1-7.5) indicate that it is a light alkaline.

Highlights

Groundwater is the third resource after surface water and rainwater, and it is one of the main sources of river water in the world, as the source of this water is water that infiltrated from the surface of soils with high porosity towards the formation of the earth's crust and later becomes reservoirs or so-called underground reservoirs
Using the ENVI software to create a mosaic between two images, and the image-to-image correction method, use the QGIS software to correct an image to a map by linking the locations of the ground points (GCPS) together for both the satellite image taken for the study area and the administrative map of the same area, called the reference image
Based on the results obtained from this study, it can be concluded that the groundwater in the study area contains high salt concentrations

Summary

Introduction

Groundwater is the third resource after surface water and rainwater, and it is one of the main sources of river water in the world, as the source of this water is water that infiltrated from the surface of soils with high porosity towards the formation of the earth's crust and later becomes reservoirs or so-called underground reservoirs. The importance of groundwater in increasing its use day after day after another, due to the increase in the need for it in the provision of drinking and irrigation water in many countries of the world, and as a result, it has become very important to study the quality and quantity of this water to ensure the continuity of its availability (Al-Khafaji, 2015) (Abo al-Somur, and Al-khateeb, 1999) The quality of this water can be compared with internationally approved standards or Locally to find out their suitability for human use, and this can be achieved by taking random samples from them and analyzing them in a laboratory to find out their physical and chemical properties, such as knowing their salinity, electrical conductivity (EC)values, their interaction rate, and others, As the concentrations of dissolved solids reflect some of the physical and chemical characteristics of water such as salinity, water quality and areas of use (Al-Dabbas and Kadhim, 2017), as for EC, this variable reflects the ability of water to conduct electric current and its relationship directly to the amount of dissolved solids. It was found through the field visit and fieldwork that the depths of groundwater wells in the study area vary, but most of the groundwater in this area is close to the surface, as its depth ranges between 0.50-1.50 meters. these formations contain salts, which increases their salinity (Ali et al, 2021)

Methods

Results

Conclusion