| Abstrakt: |
Managing limited and sensitive groundwater resources ensures a sustainable, safe, high-quality water supply. However, climate change and intensive human practices put the groundwater situation under stress worldwide. The present research strongly supports water resource management and land use planning in the Triffa Plain. Combining GIS techniques with the groundwater vulnerability assessment methods DRASTIC, SINTACS, and GOD, seven hydrogeological data layers were studied and analyzed as input to the different models. As a result, the entire area was categorized into three classes according to the respective methods, with a more accurate assessment provided by the DRASTIC, followed by the SINTACS method. However, the GOD method tended to overestimate the vulnerability in the area. The vulnerability map generated according to the DRASTIC method reveals moderate exposure, affecting 76.31% of the total area, 14.44% low vulnerability, and 9.30% high vulnerability. The results obtained were validated using nitrate concentrations in the 123 wells examined. A sensitivity analysis was performed to identify the most critical factors affecting groundwater vulnerability, which are aquifer and vadose zone lithology, hydraulic conductivity, and topography. The results provide valuable information for future intrinsic vulnerability assessment studies in the Triffa Plain and highlight the need to consider these factors and their relationship to changing conditions, such as climate change and agricultural activity. Further, identifying pollution-prone areas in this study guides policymakers in implementing focused action plans. |
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