Investigating sustainable groundwater withdrawal potential of Tabriz Plain for irrigation use with an emphasize on protection of water resources

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Water Engineering, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran

4 Ph.D. Student, Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

 
The amount of underground water discharge by identified wells and aqueducts in Tabriz plain is 134 MCM per year. According to the hydrograph drawn for Tabriz plain, the groundwater level has dropped by 1.394 meters for 16 statistical years (2006-2021) and 0.088 meters in the wet year (2020-2021). The results of the water balance calculation of the region showed that the plain is in a state of imbalance and the reservoir deficit was estimated at 22.74 MCM. The results of this study showed that one of the important factors of water shortage is to turn to crops with a high water requirement. So, the sustainable perception of the seven scenarios on the dominant crop pattern applied in the region which four scenarios (1) providing 80% of the water requirement of the products instead of providing full water requirement, (2) providing full water requirement while reducing the 20% cultivated area, (3) providing 90% of the water requirement of the products simultaneously with 10% reduction in their cropping area, (4) onion production due to high water requirement removal from the cropping pattern and reduction of 10% of the alfalfa cultivar and 10% Chickpea and vegetable cultivars were accepted, which are roughly proportionate to the sustainable harvesting value. The results showed that the most important solution for optimal water use is management of water use and in agricultural sector, changing the pattern of cultivation  is a good way to reform the water use pattern.

Keywords

Main Subjects

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

 

Introduction

The lack of surface water resources has caused the excessive withdrawal of underground water in many parts of the world and the sharp drop of these tables. With the increasing population, the arbitrary harvesting of these resources has increased and these natural reserves have faced a serious threat. Tabriz plain is one of the agricultural poles of East Azarbaijan province, and the water sources used in this plain for agricultural purposes include surface and underground water sources. It is important to be aware of the fluctuations of the underground water level and the optimal management in order to exploit the underground water resources in this plain. The purpose of this research is to investigate the exploitation status of the underground water source and to determine the sustainable limit of withdrawal from the Tabriz plain's underground water and to provide suitable cultivation patterns to the farmers according to the amount of water available.

Material and Methods

Tabriz plain aquifer hydrograph of each piezometer was prepared for monthly water level figures during a statistical period of 15 years. The results of Mann-Kendall test were used to investigate the hydrograph trend of Tabriz Plain. The underground water balance equation was investigated and evaluated. Then the storage volume of the aquifer including dynamic storage and static storage is determined. In order to calculate the average thickness of the saturated part of the aquifer, first maps of bedrock and depth of groundwater were prepared using geographic information system and kriging interpolation method, then the map of groundwater depth was subtracted from the map of bedrock. For each of the groundwater parameters (bedrock depth and level), five theoretical models were fitted for the data of changes in these parameters. According to the error measurement criterion and correlation coefficient, the best model was selected for the rock parameter of the groundwater floor. One of the important factors of water shortage is turning to crops with high water demand. Considering the limit of sustainable withdrawal from underground water, the cultivation pattern of the region was investigated and 7 alternative scenarios were defined for the cultivation pattern of the region.

Results

The amount of fluctuation of the underground water level of Tabriz plain was estimated using the hydrograph drawn in 16 statistical years (2001-2017) and the amount of drop in the water year (2016-2017) was 1.394 meters and 0.088 meters, respectively. During the balance period, a volume equal to 43.44 million cubic meters enters the balance area and a flow of 1.79 million cubic meters per year leaves it, and the changes in the volume of the reservoir during the water year (2016-2017) are equal to It was with -22.74 MCM (decrease in tank volume). The total storage volume of the aquifer was estimated at 996.120 MCM, which included the sum of dynamic storage (120.042 MCM) and static storage (876.078 MCM). By applying 7 scenarios on the cultivation pattern ruling the region, we came to the conclusion that these 4 scenarios, i.e. scenario 1 with the implementation (net water requirement of 0.8) with the amount of withdrawal from 158.3 sources, scenario 2-2 with the implementation of (full irrigation and a 20% reduction of the cultivated area) with a harvest amount of 158.3, scenario 2-3 with the implementation (less irrigation by 10% and a 10% reduction of the cultivated area) with a harvest amount of 160.4 and scenario 4 with a harvest amount of 160.45 approximately It has a good fit with the value of the stable limit (168.4 MCM).

Conclusions

In this research, the aim is to investigate the state of exploitation of underground water resources and to determine the sustainable limit of withdrawal from Tabriz plain's underground water and to provide suitable cultivation patterns to farmers. The hydrograph of the Tabriz plain aquifer, the groundwater balance for the water year and the total storage volume of the aquifer (including dynamic and static storage) were estimated. Then, several scenarios were used to change the cultivation pattern and reduce water consumption from underground water in the agricultural sector. By applying 7 scenarios on the cropping pattern prevailing in the region, it was found that scenarios 1, 2-2, 2-3 and 4 are almost proportional to the amount of sustainable harvest.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, R.D., S.K., S.S. and F.M.; methodology, S.K. and F.M; software, R.D. and S.K.; validation, S.K., S.S and F.M.; formal analysis, R.D and F.M.; investigation, R.D, S.S. and S.K.; resources, S.K. and F.M.; data curation, R.D., S.K. and S.S.; writing-original draft preparation, R.D., S.K., S.S. and F.M.; writing-review and editing, R.D. and S.S.; visualization, S.K.; supervision, R.D. and S.S.; project administration, R.D.

Data Availability Statement

Data available on reseanoable request from the authors.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all participants of the present study.

Ethical considerations

The authors avoided data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and misconduct.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

 

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Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Volume 55, Issue 9
November 2024
Pages 1565-1583

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