Groundwater resources assessment for irrigable agricultural lands in the Wadi Araba area, southern Jordan
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Groundwater resources assessment for irrigable agricultural lands in the Wadi Araba area, southern Jordan Ali El-Naqa & Mustafa Al Kuisi
Received: 23 January 2012 / Accepted: 9 April 2012 / Published online: 8 May 2012 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2012
Abstract The main target of this research paper was to the hydrogeological assessment of the groundwater resources to irrigate 600 ha of irrigable agricultural lands, distributed along the Dead Sea–Aqaba Highway in Umm, Methla, Wadi Musa, Qa’ Saideen and Rahma, southern Jordan. Therefore, a comprehensive groundwater study was commenced by drilling eight new wells which can be used to supply irrigable areas with the existing groundwater that would be enriched by the yield of three proposed recharge dams on Wadi Musa, Wadi Abu-Burqa, and Wadi Rahma. The evaluation of the pumping test data of the drilled was carried out using the standard methods of pumping test interpretation. This was based on the available water table measurements at well locations and knowledge of water flow in the general. The sustainable yield of each well was calculated based on the pumping test parameters. The obtained results indicate that pumping out of Beer Mathkor wells should not exceed 1,100 m3/day in the case of continuous pumping and 8,700 m3/day in the case of intermittent pumping. Since the water table did not significantly change with small changes in pumping (it took eightfolds of magnitude increase in pumping from approximately 1,100 to 8,700 m3/day to show a significant drop in the water table equivalent to about 5.5 MCM per year from the aquifer. Keywords Groundwater . Pumping tests . Sustainable well yield . Irrigation . Arid area A. El-Naqa (*) Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] M. Al Kuisi University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction Jordan is considered as one of the ten most water-scarce countries in the world (JWR 2001; El-Naqa et al. 2009). The country, dominated by arid and semi-arid climate, suffers from scarcity of natural water resources and increasing population growth. This has caused an increased demand on water resources and resulted in a wide disparity between water supply and demand (Al-Mimi 1992). Many experts have agreed that the scarcity of water is the gravest environmental challenge facing the country both in the present and in the future (JGE 2001). Therefore, proper assessment, planning, and development of water resources are key elements in the overall social and economic development. Wadi Araba, portion of Jordan Rift Valley located between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, has become an important focal point in a progressive movement leading towards economic development. The scarcity of water resources in Wadi Araba has been considered as the gravest problem that the development plan might face (Abu Zir 1989). Therefore, the development of water resources of the area for irrigation purposes will have the highest priority in the Jordan water resources development plan (Smith 1995). Wit
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