The present research attempts to study detail morphometric analysis ofHarrir and Shaqlawa watersheds in the northeastern part of Erbil city, north of Iraq. The areas of the watersheds are 350 Km² and 223 Km² for Harrir and Shaqlawa, respectively. To achieve the aims of this study, the ALOS PALSAR Digital Elevation Model data, and Geo-information (Remote sensing and GIS) techniques were used for determining and analyzing morphometric parameters in terms linear, aerial and relief aspects. Several tools in ArcGIS 10.4 software were utilized for preparing and producing maps, analyzing and assessing various characteristics of the parameters. The main results show that there is a strong inverse relationship between stream order, number and length of the stream in the watersheds of the study area by R² values (R² = 0.78 and 0.81 of Harrir watershed and R² = 0.8 and 0.79 for Shaqlawa watershed, respectively). The watersheds are elongated in shape with dendritic, sub dendritic to parallel drainage patterns. Moreover, detail morphometric analysis shows that the watersheds have a low runoff, low permeable material, and moderate slope. The structural geology and climatic parameters of the study area have influenced the landform development and stream behavior in the watersheds. Hence, the present study is useful and essential for watershed management and planning rainfall harvesting.
Groundwater as an important component of the hydrological cycle and it is the main resource for irrigation and domestic water supply particularly in arid and semi-arid area, where groundwater is a key feature that controls the distribution of vegetation. Distribution of vegetation was compared in the Shaqlawa Basin located in Kurdistan Region, Northern Iraq with the depth to groundwater by using the normalize difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the normalize different moisture index (NDMI). The NDVI and NDMI were derived from TM-5 images from 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Depths to groundwater measurements were available from 11 monitoring wells. The results of statistical analysis show significant relationship between groundwater table and calculated vegetated areas at the 95% confidence levels with P-value less than 0.05 for all modeled years. The NDVI values at different depth to groundwater intervals indicate that higher vegetation coverage and more plant diversity exist in areas of shallow groundwater. Drought periods affected the groundwater table and less water infiltrating into soil, then the agricultural decreased. The scarcity of precipitation and other sources for fresh water increase the demand on groundwater water in agricultural activities in the region.
Increasing population growth and water demand for various purposes such as irrigation, domestic and industrial production in many parts of the Kurdistan Region is causing deficit in fresh water and rising groundwater dependence. Drilling many deep wells in the area unsystematically and continuously increased pumping water from groundwater reservoirs results in lowering of water table. Therefore, it is essential to assess the management of water resources. The study focuses on the groundwater modeling for the Qushtapa District plain area in particular under steady state flow conditions. The aquifer was simulated under unconfined condition and is represented by a single layer of 100 m thickness. MODPATH was used to measure contamination track lines and travel times. This approach involved the introduction of particles at sources of contaminants in the wells and the recharge area, then the identification of the path lines and the determination of the special distribution of contaminants through steady state flow conditions. The simulation of the groundwater head shows that the groundwater head starts from the northeastern part of the plain and decreases towards Lesser Zab River in the south of the plain from 420 m to 140 m above sea level. The modeled layer was calibrated under steady state conditions using hydraulic parameters obtained from observation and pumping wells. The calibrated model is effective in producing steady-state groundwater head distribution and good compliance with observed data. The standard error was estimated as 4.88 m, the normalized root mean square error is 8.3% and the residual mean is 15.79 m. The results of the forward tracking show the source of potential pollutants from the recharge area after different travel time, the particles released at the northern boundary travels to the center and the western part toward the pollution sources. The results of the backward tracking show that the particles located in the extraction wells moved toward the recharge area in the north and northeastern part of the study area.
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