Title: Quantifying the surface water runoff to the Dead Sea under different climate scenarios. A case study from Wadi Arogut

Authors: Saed Khayat; Amer Marei; Husam Etir; Stefan Geyer

Addresses: Technical and Applied Research Centre, PTUK – Palestine Technical University-Kadorie, P.O. Box 7, Yafa Str. Tulkarm, Palestine ' Al-Quds University, P.O. Box 20002, East Jerusalem, Palestine ' Al-Quds University, P.O. Box 20002, East Jerusalem, Palestine ' UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, 06120 Halle, Germany

Abstract: The surrounding area of the Dead Sea, especially the west side, suffers from many hydrological problems. It is necessary to maintain a type of balance between surface water exploitation through the Wadi and at the same time allow a sufficient amount of flow to the Dead Sea to ensure its sustainability. In this study, we choose one of the large tributaries in the western side of the Dead Sea basin. The stream was modelled for runoff response to different rainfall amounts and climate conditions. The model data show that normal average events contribute about 18-22 MCM annually to the Dead Sea. The reoccurrence of dry season such as 2005/2006 shows an adverse effect on the Dead Sea. In the rainy season 1991/1992, there was a higher amount of rainfall over the study area that reached around 155 MCM. Despite the presence of this high amount, most of the recharge was lost to the ground as groundwater recharge. The total loss (rather than surface runoff) was much higher (77%). Moreover, 50% less precipitation in 2006 decreased the Dead Sea by 5 metres within five years, and a 60% increase of precipitation in 1992 raised the water level 2 metres only for two to three succeeding years.

Keywords: surface flow; surface water runoff; climate scenarios; case study; Wadi Arogut; Dead Sea; Jordan River; Hebron; hydrology; modelling; rainfall amounts; groundwater recharge; precipitation; surface water exploitation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2016.073744

International Journal of Water, 2016 Vol.10 No.1, pp.67 - 86

Received: 30 May 2014
Accepted: 02 Sep 2014

Published online: 17 Dec 2015 *

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