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DOI 10.1007/s12665-012-1795-8
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Title (Primary) Numerical analysis of the groundwater regime in the western Dead Sea escarpment, Israel + West Bank
Author Gräbe, A.; Rödiger, T.; Rink, K.; Fischer, T.; Sun, F.; Wang, W. ORCID logo ; Siebert, C. ORCID logo ; Kolditz, O. ORCID logo
Source Titel Environmental Earth Sciences
Year 2013
Department ENVINF; CATHYD
Volume 69
Issue 2
Page From 571
Page To 585
Language englisch
Keywords Numerical groundwater flow modelling; Structural model; 3-D groundwater flow model; Model calibration; OpenGeoSys; Dead Sea; Semi-arid and arid regions; SUMAR
UFZ wide themes RU2
Abstract Water is scarce in the semi-arid to arid regions around the Dead Sea, where water supply mostly relies on restricted groundwater resources. Due to increasing population in this region, the regional aquifer system is exposed to additional stress. This results in the continuous decrease in water level of the adjacent Dead Sea. The interaction of an increasing demand for water due to population growth and the decrease of groundwater resources will intensify in the near future. Thus, the water supply situation could worsen significantly unless sustainable water resource management is conducted. In this study, we develop a regional groundwater flow model of the eastern and southern Judea Group Aquifer to investigate the groundwater regime in the western Dead Sea drainage basin of Israel and the West Bank. An extensive geological database was developed and consequently a high-resolution structural model was derived. This structural model was the basis for various groundwater flow scenarios. The objective was to capture the spatial heterogeneity of the aquifer system and to apply these results to the southern part of the study area, which has not been studied in detail until now. As a result we analyzed quantitatively the flow regime, the groundwater mass balance and the hydraulic characteristics (hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head) of the cretaceous aquifer system and calibrated them with PEST. The calibrated groundwater flow model can be used for integrated groundwater water management purposes in the Dead Sea area, especially within the framework of the SUMAR-Project.

Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=13204
Gräbe, A., Rödiger, T., Rink, K., Fischer, T., Sun, F., Wang, W., Siebert, C., Kolditz, O. (2013):
Numerical analysis of the groundwater regime in the western Dead Sea escarpment, Israel + West Bank
Environ. Earth Sci. 69 (2), 571 - 585 10.1007/s12665-012-1795-8