Groundwater pumping from Kalbha and Fujairah coastal aquifer of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has increased significantly during the last two decades to meet the agriculture water demands. Due to the lack of natural replenishment from rainfall and the excessive pumping, groundwater levels have declined significantly causing an intrusion of seawater in the coastal aquifer of Wadi Ham. As a result, many pumping wells in the coastal zone have been terminated and a number of farms have been abandoned. In this paper, MODFLOW was used to simulate the groundwater flow and assess the seawater intrusion in the coastal aquifer of Wadi Ham. The model was calibrated against a five-year dataset of historical groundwater levels and validated against another eleven-year dataset. The effects of pumping on groundwater levels and seawater intrusion were investigated. Results showed that reducing the pumping from Khalbha well field will help to reduce the seawater intrusion into the southeastern part of the aquifer. Under the current groundwater pumping rates, the seawater will continue to migrate inland.
The United Arab Emirate’s rapid population growth is coupled with an increase in the consumption of natural resources such as fresh air, sunlight, land, and water. In the past two decades, the demand for land has augmented both away from the coast and significantly near the coast. Within coastal zones, artificial reclamation of land in the sea is the most desirable way to meet the demand for land necessary for the development of the most modern urban areas. Seaward reclamation (land in the water) necessitates the construction of artificially reclaimed areas that are extended into the sea using innovative modern construction techniques. The majority of these building requirements are necessitated by a number of key factors and have diverse outcomes. Even though this type of urban expansion is not new, the scale and motivations of land reclamation have been drastically altered due to geological and human-induced factors. The purpose of this paper is to assess the increase in seaward land expansion, particularly in the seven UAE coastal emirates. Using satellite data, particularly from 1990 to 2021, the total increase in land due to newly developed reclaimed areas in all UAE coastal emirates is calculated. Satellite images from the Landsat series are used to analyze the tremendous growth since the early 2000s. In addition, the study of shoreline maps of 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2021 for the seven emirates revealed that the 22 km long Ajman and UAQ front coast experienced a notable shoreline retreat with a net erosion area of 300 m2 and an annual rate of 30 my−1 over the past 21 years (2000–2021). Depending on the type of construction design used to describe the process, a methodical sorting is also recommended. The impacts of the Dubai offshore reclaimed islands on the adjacent coastlines in Ajman and Umm Al Quwain (UAQ), as well as the potential impact of earthquake tremors along the Zagros fold belt region, are the subjects of this study. In this study, all seven coastal emirates are considered, and the largest reclamation projects are located in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras-Al Khaimah (RAK), and Fujairah, with Dubai leading the way; it has expanded its coastal areas by more than 68 km2 at present, and another 35 km2 will be reclaimed soon to finish Palm Deira.
To study the temporal and spatial variations of the groundwater quantity and quality in response to intensive groundwater exploitation from the Quaternary aquifer in UAE, a water budget model with a cell size of one km2 was developed. The available historical records of groundwater levels and salinity have been used to develop the water table and salinity maps of UAE for the years 1969, 2005, 2010, and 2015. The available water resources and soil information system was used to facilitate validity, cogency, and consistency of the groundwater analysis. The spatial analysis module of GIS was used to define the aquifer setting, saturated thickness, aquifer base elevation, effective porosity, and groundwater salinity at each grid cell. The obtained results indicated that the volume of fresh groundwater resources in the Quaternary aquifer in UAE has decreased from 238 km3 in 1969 to around 10 km3 in 2015. A major part of these depleted fresh groundwater resources was replaced by brackish water, and, therefore, the total groundwater storage in this aquifer has only decreased from 977 in 1969 to 922 km3 in 2015, respectively. If the same groundwater exploitation continues, the freshwater storage in the surficial aquifer might be totally depleted in agricultural areas. Most probably, the brackish groundwater resources will be exploited. In such areas, more attention should be devoted to the management of brackish water resources to avoid the exacerbation of the saltwater intrusion problem. Despite the fact that the obtained results indicate the negative impacts of the improper water resources management in a small part of the arid area, the learned lessons are valid for other arid countries, in particular, using the proper steady state boundary conditions for the initial conditions in modeling the available future management alternatives.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.