Determining safe yield and mapping water level zoning in groundwater resources of the Neishabour Plain
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Abstract: Groundwater is a crucial sources of water supply, especially in arid and semi-arid areas around the world. With uncontrolled withdrawals and limited availability of these resources, it is essential to determine the safe yield of these valuable resources. The Hill method approach was used in this study to determine the safe yield the Neishabour aquifer in Khorasan Razvi province in Iran. The results showed that the safe yield in the Neishabour aquifer is 60% lower than the current pumping amounts during the study period, indicating that further overdrafts could result in the destruction of this aquifer. This highlights the importance of using the Hill method to estimate the permitted exploitation from other aquifers, thus preventing problems caused by over-extraction and maintaining stability of global groundwater levels.
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Key words:
- Hill method /
- Water level zoning maps /
- Groundwater pumping /
- Safe yield /
- Groundwater crisis
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Table 1. Sum of pumping values and water level drop in the water years of the period
Water year Annual pumping (million m3) Annual water level change (m) 2000–2001 680.42 −0.90 2001–2002 671.82 −1.10 2002–2003 662.63 −0.93 2003–2004 655.39 −0.84 2005–2004 644.76 −0.72 2005–2006 635.54 −0.78 2006–2007 626.10 −0.66 2007–2008 616.36 −0.68 2008–2009 609.83 −0.62 2009–2010 611.46 −0.65 2010–2011 611.52 −0.64 2011–2012 547.29 −0.45 Table 2. Average annual pumping values of the period after reducing the pumping percentage compared to initial pumping values
Average annual pumping values of the period (million m3) The percentage of pumping reduction compared to existing (initial) values (%) 557.99 −10 495.83 −20 433.99 −30 371.99 −40 315.45 −50 245.84 −60 Table 3. Determination of safe yield from the obtained curve equation
Water year Annual pumping (million m3) Annual water level change (m) 2000–2001 680.42 −0.90 2001–2002 671.82 −1.10 2002–2003 662.63 −0.93 2003–2004 655.39 −0.84 2005–2004 644.76 −0.72 2005–2006 635.54 −0.78 2006–2007 626.10 −0.66 2007–2008 616.36 −0.68 2008–2009 609.83 −0.62 2009–2010 611.46 −0.65 2010–2011 611.52 −0.64 2011–2012 547.29 −0.45 From the curve equation to zero water level drop 494.8 0 Table 4. Determining the safe yield from the obtained line equation
The percentage of Pumping reduction compared to existing (initial) values (%) Average annual pumping values of the period (million m3) Average annual water level changes of the period (m) −10 557.99 −0.70 −20 495.83 −0.54 −30 433.99 −0.39 −40 371.99 −0.25 −50 315.45 −0.11 −60 245.84 +0.02 From the curve equation to zero water level drop 257.2 0 -
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