Abstract
In developing countries such as Syria, the lack of hydrological data affects groundwater resource assessment. Groundwater models provide the means to fill the gaps in the available data in order to improve the understanding of groundwater systems. The study area can be considered as the main recharge area of the eastern side of Barada and Awaj basin in the eastern part of Mt. Hermon. The withdrawal for agricultural and domestic purposes removes a considerable amount of water. The steady-state three-dimensional (3D) groundwater model (FEFLOW which is an advanced finite element groundwater flow and transport modeling tool), was used to quantify groundwater budget components by using all available data of hydrological year 2009–2010. The results obtained may be considered as an essential tool for groundwater management options in the study area. The calibrated model demonstrates a good agreement between the observed and simulated hydraulic head. The result of the sensitivity analysis shows that the model is highly sensitive to hydraulic conductivity changes and sensitive to a lesser extent to water recharge amount. Regarding the upper aquifer horizon, the water budget under steady-state condition indicates that the lateral groundwater inflow from the Jurassic aquifer into this horizon is the most important recharge component. The major discharge component from this aquifer horizon occurs at its eastern boundary toward the outside of the model domain. The model was able to produce a satisfying estimation of the preliminary water budget of the upper aquifer horizon which indicates a positive imbalance of 4.6 Mm3·y−1.
Highlights
In agricultural countries such as Syria, the availability of water resources is considered to be a key factor for economic development
The calculated amount of pumped groundwater is less than the amount of water needed for the irrigation if we take into account the amount of 5000 m3·h−1·y−1 reported by the Ministry of Irrigation (MOI) in Syria [28]
The calibrated hydraulic conductivity for the upper aquifer horizon varied within a reasonable range based on values between 0.3 and 13 m·d−1 reported in the literature
Summary
In agricultural countries such as Syria, the availability of water resources is considered to be a key factor for economic development. Agriculture accounts for 87% of the water withdrawn from Syria’s aquifers, rivers and lakes [11,12] Groundwater abstraction for both agricultural and domestic uses is well developed in the study area. The study aims to (1) develop a groundwater model representing the groundwater flow system in the complex of the northeastern part of Mt. Hermon; (2) improve the hydrogeological understanding of this system and (3) provide a quantitative estimate of the groundwater budget of the upper aquifer horizon of the model domain under steady-state condition. Hermon; (2) improve the hydrogeological understanding of this system and (3) provide a quantitative estimate of the groundwater budget of the upper aquifer horizon of the model domain under steady-state condition This horizon is densely inhabited and agricultural activities are well concentrated in it. The outcome of the proposed model could be used as a management tool to improve water use in this semi-arid region in order to achieve sustainable use of groundwater resources
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