IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i9p3670-d1384331.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water Resource Management of Salalah Plain Aquifer Using a Sustainable Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Mahaad Issa Shammas

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah 211, Oman)

Abstract

A sustainable approach is proposed for managing the effects of salinity ingression in Salalah coastal aquifer, Oman. This paper aims to analyze and compare the groundwater levels and salinity of the aquifer from 1993 to 2027, considering both predictive and actual transient scenarios. Two novel scenarios were proposed, established, and examined in this study to bring back the aquifer to steady-state condition. The first scenario entails ceasing groundwater pumping from both Salalah and Saada wellfields, while compensating for the groundwater supply from these sources with surplus desalinated water. This scenario is projected to occur during the predictive period spanning from 2023 to 2027, denoted Scenario A. The second scenario is business as usual and involves continuing pumping from both wellfields during the same predictive period, denoted Scenario B. A numerical model for 3D flow simulation and advective transport modeling showed that on the eastern side of the Salalah coastal aquifer, the extent of seawater intrusion (SWI) was identified stretching from the shoreline to a distance of 1800 m, 1200 m, 0 m, and 600 m, in years 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2022 under the transient period, whereas SWI was delineated in land up to 0 m and 700 m in the predictive year 2027 under Scenarios A and B, respectively. In the western side of Salalah coastal aquifer, SWI was delineated in land up to 2000 m, 1700 m, 0 m, and 800 m, in years 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2022 under the transient period, whereas SWI was delineated in land up to 0 m and 750 m in the predictive year 2027 under Scenarios A and B, respectively. This study claims that Scenario A effectively pushed the seawater interface back to the coastline, projecting its reach to the shoreline (0 m) by 2027. In contrast, in baseline Scenario B, the wedge of saline intrusion in the Salalah coastal aquifer was delineated from the shoreline, up to 800 m inland, which accounted for continuation of pumping from both wellfields during the predictive period. The study concludes that Scenario A has the capability to efficiently reduce the impact of saline inflows from the coast, while Scenario B results in a more pronounced impact of salinity intrusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahaad Issa Shammas, 2024. "Water Resource Management of Salalah Plain Aquifer Using a Sustainable Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-22, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3670-:d:1384331
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3670/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3670/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abdessamed Derdour & Hazem Ghassan Abdo & Hussein Almohamad & Abdullah Alodah & Ahmed Abdullah Al Dughairi & Sherif S. M. Ghoneim & Enas Ali, 2023. "Prediction of Groundwater Quality Index Using Classification Techniques in Arid Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-20, June.
    2. Yanna Xiong & Tianyi Zhang & Xi Sun & Wenchao Yuan & Mingjun Gao & Jin Wu & Zhijun Han, 2023. "Groundwater Quality Assessment Based on the Random Forest Water Quality Index—Taking Karamay City as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Fahad Khan Khadim & Zoi Dokou & Rehenuma Lazin & Amvrossios C. Bagtzoglou & Emmanouil Anagnostou, 2023. "Groundwater Modeling to Assess Climate Change Impacts and Sustainability in the Tana Basin, Upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Dongyeop Lee & Jonghoon Park & Hyun A. Lee & Nam C. Woo, 2023. "A Numerical Approach to Evaluating Groundwater Vulnerability to Seawater Intrusion on Jeju Volcanic Island, South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, February.
    5. M. Shammas & R. Thunvik, 2009. "Predictive Simulation of Flow and Solute Transport for Managing the Salalah Coastal Aquifer, Oman," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(14), pages 2941-2963, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohsen Sherif & Anvar Kacimov & Akbar Javadi & Abdel Ebraheem, 2012. "Modeling Groundwater Flow and Seawater Intrusion in the Coastal Aquifer of Wadi Ham, UAE," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(3), pages 751-774, February.
    2. Mohammed Chakib Sekkal & Zakarya Ziani & Moustafa Yassine Mahdad & Sidi Mohammed Meliani & Mohammed Haris Baghli & Mohammed Zakaria Bessenouci, 2024. "Assessing the Wind Power Potential in Naama, Algeria to Complement Solar Energy through Integrated Modeling of the Wind Resource and Turbine Wind Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-34, February.
    3. Arianna Renau-Pruñonosa & Ignacio Morell & David Pulido-Velazquez, 2016. "A Methodology to Analyse and Assess Pumping Management Strategies in Coastal Aquifers to Avoid Degradation Due to Seawater Intrusion Problems," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(13), pages 4823-4837, October.
    4. Sani I. Abba & Mohamed A. Yassin & Auwalu Saleh Mubarak & Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah & Jamilu Usman & Atheer Y. Oudah & Sujay Raghavendra Naganna & Isam H. Aljundi, 2023. "Drinking Water Resources Suitability Assessment Based on Pollution Index of Groundwater Using Improved Explainable Artificial Intelligence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-21, November.
    5. I. Manteca & T. Estrella & F. Alhama, 2012. "Hydric Restoration of the Agua Amarga Salt Marsh (SE Spain) Affected by Abstraction from the Underlying Coastal Aquifer," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(6), pages 1763-1777, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3670-:d:1384331. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.