Article: Comprehensive groundwater risk assessment case study: arid northern Jordan agricultural areas Journal: International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology (IJHST) 2021 Vol.12 No.4 pp.382 - 447 Abstract: In the case of Jordan, the paper demonstrates that intensive land use in arid areas imposes tremendous pressure on groundwater. The comprehensive investigations of the contamination loads, the potential protectiveness of the aquifers and the anthropogenic activities indicate that the contamination load is primarily attributable to agricultural activities and accompanied with a high susceptibility to contamination. This study shows that remote sensing and GIS techniques are powerful tools in groundwater studies, providing possibilities for the use of vast spatial data, especially in the overlaying modelling techniques. It is concluded that a significant proportion of the case study area is hazardous to contaminants, demonstrated by the vulnerability and nitrate contamination risk maps. The procedure, successfully applied in this study with a reasonably good match between the risk map and the nitrate distribution in groundwater, appears to be accurate and has with the contamination load investigations a large potential to be applied worldwide. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Comprehensive groundwater risk assessment case study: arid northern Jordan agricultural areas

Authors: Osama Gazal; Saeid Eslamian

Addresses: Environmental and Agricultural Sciences Faculty, ESDS, Szent Istvan University, P.O. Box 2100 Godollő, Pater Karoly u.1, Hungary; Environmental and Climate Change Studies Division, Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI), Jordan ' Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 8415683111, Iran

Abstract: In the case of Jordan, the paper demonstrates that intensive land use in arid areas imposes tremendous pressure on groundwater. The comprehensive investigations of the contamination loads, the potential protectiveness of the aquifers and the anthropogenic activities indicate that the contamination load is primarily attributable to agricultural activities and accompanied with a high susceptibility to contamination. This study shows that remote sensing and GIS techniques are powerful tools in groundwater studies, providing possibilities for the use of vast spatial data, especially in the overlaying modelling techniques. It is concluded that a significant proportion of the case study area is hazardous to contaminants, demonstrated by the vulnerability and nitrate contamination risk maps. The procedure, successfully applied in this study with a reasonably good match between the risk map and the nitrate distribution in groundwater, appears to be accurate and has with the contamination load investigations a large potential to be applied worldwide.

Keywords: groundwater risk assessment; GRA; vulnerability; water quality statistical analyses; DRASTIC; sustainability; Piper diagram; remote sensing; overlying models; potential nitrate risk map; Jordan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHST.2021.118319

International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology, 2021 Vol.12 No.4, pp.382 - 447

Received: 07 Sep 2020
Accepted: 23 Oct 2020
Published online: 20 Oct 2021 *

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Title: Comprehensive groundwater risk assessment case study: arid northern Jordan agricultural areas

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