Assessment of soil salinization at the eastern Nestos River Delta, N.E. Greece

Overexploitation of Groundwater Resources in the Coastal Aquifer System of Argolis

“…This problem is even more pronounced in the case of coastal Mediterranean aquifers where the climatic conditions in combination with the observed global changes, have resulted in increased water demands for several uses (mainly agricultural). Overexploitation of groundwater resources in such systems is a rather typical problem for the Circum-Mediterranean, as recorded in many studies (Ahmed et al, 2013;Astaras and Oikonomidis, 2006;FAO, 1997;Garing et al, 2013;Giannoulopoulos, 2000;Melloul and Goldenberg, 1997;Polemio et al, 2009;Psychoyou et al, 2006;Stamatis et al, 2006;Trabelsi et al, 2012;Recinos et al, 2015;Gkiougkis et al, 2015;Pedreira et al, 2015;Pliakas et al, 2015).…”

Groundwater vulnerability assessment of a coastal aquifer system at River Nestos eastern Delta, Greece

“…The higher the recharge, the more vulnerable is the aquifer system to contamination, as infiltration enhances the transport and leaching of contaminants downwards to the saturated zone. According to Gkiougkis et al (2014), the hydrological data of Nestos River delta show a mean annual rainfall of 546.9 mm for the period of 3 decades . Considering the area of the eastern delta (176.4 km 2 ), excluding the area of uncultivated saline lands (45 km 2 ) and an infiltration of 15 %, the annual amount of infiltrated water of 10.8 9 10 6 m 3 is estimated for an area of 131.4 km 2 .…”

“…16 9 10 6 m 3 water is evaluated (Pliakas et al 2001;Sakkas et al 1998). • It is estimated that a small part of this lack is compensated by the Nestos riverbed percolation, at rates depending on the flow of the buried old streambeds and the distance from the river (Gkiougkis et al 2010(Gkiougkis et al , 2014.…”

“…The shorter the depth to water table, the more vulnerable is the aquifer to contamination. The groundwater depth values used for the 43 wells (Gkiougkis et al , 2014 refer to the piezometric data of April 2009, at the end of the wet season and, thus, prior irrigation period. According to DRASTIC index, the depth to water table data was adjusted into the ranges and ratings defined by Aller et al (1987), assigning rates ranging from 1 (lowest vulnerability impact) to 10 (highest vulnerability impact) to each well (Table 4).…”

“…Distance from the shoreline (D) Chloride concentration distribution data from July 2009 (Gkiougkis et al 2014) was used for creating a modified scale of ranges of distance from the shoreline in order to achieve an improved adjustment of the D factor. Four profiles were plotted demonstrating the chloride concentrations along the distance from shoreline to the respective groundwater sampling points.…”