Abstract
Many coastal aquifers are facing severe anthropogenic impacts such as urbanization, industrialization and agricultural activities are resulting in a saltwater intrusion. This establishes the need for a sustainable groundwater management strategy aimed to overcome the situation. Pumping of brackish/saline water to mitigate saltwater intrusion is a major potential approach to effectively control saltwater intrusion. However, this method has many challenges including selection of appropriate discharge rates under an optimum number of pumping wells and at specified wells distance from the shoreline. Hence, this study developed a Finite Element Flow and solute transport model (FEFLOW) to simulate three scenarios to assess the most appropriate pumping rates, number of wells and optimum well locations from the shoreline. These parameters were assessed and evaluated with respect to the change in groundwater saline concentration at different distance from the coastline. The 15,000 mg L−1 isosalinity contour line was used as a linear threshold to assess the progression of saltwater intrusion along three major locations in the aquifer. Scenario One was simulated with a constant number of wells and rate of pumping. Shifting of pumping wells to several distances from the shoreline was conducted. Scenario Two assessed the most appropriate number of pumping wells under constant pumping rates and distances from the shoreline and in scenario 3, the optimum pumping rates under a constant number of wells and distance from the shoreline were simulated. The results showed that the pumping of brackish/saline water from a distance of 1500 m from the shoreline using 16 pumping wells at a total pumping rate of 8000 m3 d−1 is the most effective solution in contrasting the saltwater intrusion in the Wadi Ham coastal aquifer.
Highlights
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is in the Middle East and bounded by the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf
The results showed that the pumping of brackish/saline water from a distance of 1500 m from the shoreline using 16 pumping wells at a total pumping rate of 8000 m3 d−1 is the most effective solution in contrasting the saltwater intrusion in the Wadi Ham coastal aquifer
Pumping of brackish water has a significant impact on the control of saltwater intrusion in the coastal aquifer of Wadi Ham, in the United Arab Emirates
Summary
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is in the Middle East and bounded by the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf. It has a total area of about 83,600 km (Figure 1) located between 22◦ 500 and 26◦ North and between 51◦ and 56◦ 250 East. The UAE geomorphologic features include mountains, gravel plains, sand dunes, coastal zones and drainage basins [1]. Groundwater resource is highly influenced by geomorphic features such as potential groundwater resource with high recharge capability nearby Mountains at the east, available. Overexploitation of groundwater for agricultural and domestic activities have resulted in freshwater resource depletion. UAE has turned in to one of the leading consumers of desalinated water [6]. The contribution of groundwater for domestic and agricultural activities continues
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