Seepage Velocity of Different Groundwater Aquifers in Halabja Saidsadiq Basin—NE of Iraq

Abstract

For understanding and prediction of transport in different groundwater aquifers media, the groundwater flow velocity (magnitude and direction) has to be considered. Halabja Saidsadiq Basin is located in the northeast part of Iraq, which covers an area of 1278 square kilometers with population of more than 200,000 inhabitants. The climate of this area is hot in the summers and cold in the winters. Groundwater aquifers in this area provide approximately 90% of whole water requirements. Therefore, it is important to understand some groundwater features in the area such as groundwater flow velocity, to prevent contaminant transport toward the groundwater aquifers. The main aim of this study was to apply geographic information system technique to estimate the magnitude and direction of the groundwater seepage velocity based on several hydrological and hydrogeological data in the region. The results revealed that the seepage velocity magnitude ranged from (0 to 51) m/d, while the flow direction is from the eastern to the western part of the study area.