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Geostatistical Assessment of Groundwater Nitrate Contamination with Reflection on DRASTIC Vulnerability Assessment: The Case of the Upper Litani Basin, Lebanon

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  • H. Assaf
  • M. Saadeh

Abstract

Groundwater constitutes the largest single source of fresh water in many parts of the world and provides a risk buffer to sustain critical water demands during cyclic and prolonged dry periods, especially in semi-arid and arid regions. However, unprecedented socio-economical growths are threatening the viability of these precious resources through fast depletion of already critically low stocks accompanied by persistent degradation of water quality due to salinization, and contamination by pesticides and fertilizers, urban sewage and industrial waste. These circumstances are particularly true of the Upper Litani Basin (ULB), which houses over 500,000 of Lebanon’s 4 million population and provides the bulk of the country’s agricultural output. Uncontrolled urban, agricultural and industrial growths following a prolonged civil strife and foreign occupation have resulted in the deterioration of the quality of the basin’s surface water and potentially its groundwater resources. An assessment study of groundwater quality conditions in the ULB was conducted in support of efforts to manage water quality in the basin. Geostatistical analysis of groundwater nitrate levels was conducted using data collected through an extensive basin-wide water quality survey sponsored by the USAID and covered two periods representing the summer and winter periods. The results of analysis include maps of nitrate contamination and probability of exceedance of drinking-water nitrate regulatory limit. The results indicate a significant, widespread and persistent nitrates contamination of groundwater in the ULB. Nitrate levels in groundwater exceed standard limits for drinking water in many parts of the basin. These findings were examined with respect to those of a DRASTIC groundwater vulnerability assessment conducted by the USAID BAMAS project. Comparative analysis of the two assessments shed the light on several issues related to the application and interpretation of DRASTIC scores and the groundwater nitrate contamination process. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

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  • H. Assaf & M. Saadeh, 2009. "Geostatistical Assessment of Groundwater Nitrate Contamination with Reflection on DRASTIC Vulnerability Assessment: The Case of the Upper Litani Basin, Lebanon," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(4), pages 775-796, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:23:y:2009:i:4:p:775-796
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-008-9299-8
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    2. Mohamed Alfy & Aref Lashin & Nassir Al-Arifi & Abdulaziz Al-Bassam, 2015. "Groundwater Characteristics and Pollution Assessment Using Integrated Hydrochemical Investigations GIS and Multivariate Geostatistical Techniques in Arid Areas," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(15), pages 5593-5612, December.
    3. Lior Netzer & Noam Weisbrod & Daniel Kurtzman & Ahmed Nasser & Ellen Graber & Daniel Ronen, 2011. "Observations on Vertical Variability in Groundwater Quality: Implications for Aquifer Management," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(5), pages 1315-1324, March.
    4. Lazhar Belkhiri & Tahoora Narany, 2015. "Using Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Geostatistical Techniques and Structural Equation Modeling to Identify Spatial Variability of Groundwater Quality," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(6), pages 2073-2089, April.
    5. Sérgio Mateus Chilaule & Mercedes Vélez-Nicolás & Verónica Ruiz-Ortiz & Ángel Sánchez-Bellón & Santiago García-López, 2023. "Assessment of Intrinsic Vulnerability Using DRASTIC vs. Actual Nitrate Pollution: The Case of a Detrital Aquifer Impacted by Intensive Agriculture in Cádiz (Southern Spain)," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, May.
    6. Sina Sadeghfam & Yousef Hassanzadeh & Ata Allah Nadiri & Mahdi Zarghami, 2016. "Localization of Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment Using Catastrophe Theory," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(13), pages 4585-4601, October.
    7. Adam Khalifa Mohamed & Dan Liu & Kai Song & Mohamed A. A. Mohamed & Elsiddig Aldaw & Basheer A. Elubid, 2019. "Hydrochemical Analysis and Fuzzy Logic Method for Evaluation of Groundwater Quality in the North Chengdu Plain, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Aminreza Neshat & Biswajeet Pradhan, 2015. "An integrated DRASTIC model using frequency ratio and two new hybrid methods for groundwater vulnerability assessment," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 76(1), pages 543-563, March.
    9. Nesma A. Arafa & Zenhom El-Said Salem & Mahmoud A. Ghorab & Shokry A. Soliman & Abdelaziz L. Abdeldayem & Yasser M. Moustafa & Hosni H. Ghazala, 2022. "Evaluation of Groundwater Sensitivity to Pollution Using GIS-Based Modified DRASTIC-LU Model for Sustainable Development in the Nile Delta Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    10. K. Brindha & L. Elango, 2012. "Impact of Tanning Industries on Groundwater Quality near a Metropolitan City in India," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(6), pages 1747-1761, April.
    11. Baalousha, Husam, 2010. "Assessment of a groundwater quality monitoring network using vulnerability mapping and geostatistics: A case study from Heretaunga Plains, New Zealand," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 240-246, February.
    12. Aminreza Neshat & Biswajeet Pradhan, 2015. "Risk assessment of groundwater pollution with a new methodological framework: application of Dempster–Shafer theory and GIS," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 78(3), pages 1565-1585, September.
    13. Mohammad Kamali & Rouzbeh Nazari & Alireza Faridhosseini & Hossein Ansari & Saeid Eslamian, 2015. "The Determination of Reference Evapotranspiration for Spatial Distribution Mapping Using Geostatistics," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(11), pages 3929-3940, September.

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