Geophysical, isotopic, and hydrogeochemical tools to identify potential impacts on coastal groundwater resources from Urmia hypersaline Lake, NW Iran

Amiri, Vahab; Nakhaei, Mohammad; Lak, Razyeh; Kholghi, Majid

doi:10.1007/s11356-016-6859-y

Cited by 52 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…Also, Amiri et al (2016), based on isotope and chemical tracer analyses, rejected any significant relationship between the lake and groundwater. However, some studies, e.g., Ashraf et al (2017) and Vaheddoost and Aksoy (2018), stated the opposite. In conclusion, the results of this study support the idea that there are no significant direct interactions between lake and groundwater in Lake Urmia basin.…”

Section: Model Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Quantifying the impacts of human water use and climate variations on recent drying of Lake Urmia basin: the value of different sets of spaceborne and in situ data for calibrating a global hydrological model

Hosseini‐Moghari

Araghinejad

Tourian

et al. 2020

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. During the last decades, the endorheic Lake Urmia basin in northwestern Iran has suffered from declining groundwater tables and a very strong recent reduction in the volume of Lake Urmia. For the case of Lake Urmia basin, this study explores the value of different locally and globally available observation data for adjusting a global hydrological model such that it can be used for distinguishing the impacts of human water use and climate variations. The WaterGAP Global Hydrology Model (WGHM) was for the first time calibrated against multiple in situ and spaceborne data to analyze the decreasing lake water volume, lake river inflow, loss of groundwater, and total water storage in the entire basin during 2003–2013. The calibration process was done using an automated approach including a genetic algorithm (GA) and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II). Then the best-performing calibrated models were run with and without considering water use to quantify the impact of human water use. Observations encompass remote-sensing-based time series of annual irrigated areas in the basin from MODIS, monthly total water storage anomaly (TWSA) from GRACE satellites, and monthly lake volume anomalies. In situ observations include time series of annual inflow into the lake and basin averages of groundwater level variations based on 284 wells. In addition, local estimates of sectoral water withdrawals in 2009 and return flow fractions were utilized. Calibration against MODIS and GRACE data alone improved simulated inflow into Lake Urmia but inflow and lake volume loss were still overestimated, while groundwater loss was underestimated and seasonality of groundwater storage was shifted as compared to observations. Lake and groundwater dynamics could only be simulated well if calibration against groundwater levels led to an adjustment of the fractions of human water use from groundwater and surface water. Thus, in some basins, globally available satellite-derived observations may not suffice for improving the simulation of human water use. According to WGHM simulations with 18 optimal parameter sets, human water use was the reason for 52 %–57 % of the total basin water loss of about 10 km3 during 2003–2013, for 39 %–43 % of the Lake Urmia water loss of about 8 km3, and for up to 87 %–90 % of the groundwater loss. Lake inflow was 39 %–45 % less than it would have been without human water use. The study shows that even without human water use Lake Urmia would not have recovered from the significant loss of lake water volume caused by the drought year 2008. These findings can support water management in the basin and more specifically Lake Urmia restoration plans.

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Section: Model Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Quantifying the impacts of human water use and climate variations on recent drying of Lake Urmia basin: the value of different sets of spaceborne and in situ data for calibrating a global hydrological model

Hosseini‐Moghari

Araghinejad

Tourian

et al. 2020

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Amirataee and Zeinalzadeh () and Bateni () studied the trends associated with the autocorrelation of the groundwater time series in the west coast of Lake Urmia. Amiri, Nakhaei, Lak, and Kholghi (, ) analysed groundwater in the western part of the Lake Urmia basin to conclude that recharge of groundwater was important in wet seasons. Gorgij, Kisi, and Moghaddam () used the hybrid wavelet‐artificial neural network‐genetic programming as a method to study the water budget in Azarshahr Plain at the eastern bank of Lake Urmia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction of groundwater with Lake Urmia in Iran

Vaheddoost

Aksoy

2018

Hydrological Processes

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Being a large hyper‐saline water body, Lake Urmia in north‐western Iran deals with a gradual decline in its water level. Most of the studies on Lake Urmia have neglected the groundwater issue. In this study, as a direct approach, the interaction between the groundwater level and the lake water level is investigated both in time and space by analysing the groundwater data compiled from observation wells surrounding the lake. Baseflow separation is considered as an indirect approach to understand the groundwater contribution to the river network flowing into the lake. It is determined that about 70% of run‐off in the rivers draining into the lake is born in the form of baseflow. An interaction between the lake and the groundwater storage is clearly seen from the analysis to conclude that groundwater has a potential to recharge the lake. Thus, the shrinkage of water level in Lake Urmia could be expected to accelerate with the drastic use of groundwater, which will be a disaster with no return.

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“…Geophysical studies show that the maximum thickness of the alluvial part of UA in its northern half is about 160 meters, which is observed in the central and eastern regions (near Urmia Lake (UL)). Also, its southern half has a maximum thickness of about 120 to 130 meters and these changes are observed along the shore of UL and often in the central regions (Amiri et al 2016b). This lake deepens from south to north.…”

Section: Geology Climate and Hydrogeology Of The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

An Integrated Statistical-Graphical Approach for the Appraisal of the Natural Background Levels of Major Ions and Some Potentially Toxic Elements in the Groundwater of Urmia Aquifer, Iran

Amiri

Nakhaei

Lak

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

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In this study, we attempted to calculate the Natural Background Level (NBL) for 19 selected chemical compounds in the Urmia aquifer, northwestern Iran. In this study, combined methods including pre-selection and statistical methods for determining NBL have been used. In the pre-selection method, the concentration of nitrate (NO3 ≥ 19.97 ppm) and chloride (Cl ≥ 200 ppm) were used as the main criteria to identify and eliminate samples affected by human activities. The selected concentration of nitrate is determined using the comparison of the results of various statistical and graphical evaluations including Quantile-Quantile plot (Q-Q plot), Box & Whisker plot (BW), Box & Whisker plot Iterative (BWI), Grubbs test, Mean and standard deviation (mean ± 2σ) (MSD), and median absolute deviation (MAD). After identifying the final data set, the NBL of the selected chemical compounds was calculated by two techniques including the Iterative 2σ technique (2σ) and calculated distribution function (CDF). Due to higher concentration relative to the reference values (REF), this study has focused on the calculation of NBL of SO4, F, As, Fe and Mn. Results showed that the upper limit of NBL calculated for these variables is about 125 ppm, 1 ppm, 8.5 ppb, 570 ppb, 80 ppb, respectively. Given that no study has been conducted to determine the NBL of chemical compounds in groundwater in Iran, the results of this study can be a roadmap for decision-makers and researchers to better manage this aquifer and other water resources in this country with limited freshwater resources.

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Geophysical, isotopic, and hydrogeochemical tools to identify potential impacts on coastal groundwater resources from Urmia hypersaline Lake, NW Iran

Cited by 52 publications

References 96 publications

Quantifying the impacts of human water use and climate variations on recent drying of Lake Urmia basin: the value of different sets of spaceborne and in situ data for calibrating a global hydrological model

Quantifying the impacts of human water use and climate variations on recent drying of Lake Urmia basin: the value of different sets of spaceborne and in situ data for calibrating a global hydrological model

Interaction of groundwater with Lake Urmia in Iran

An Integrated Statistical-Graphical Approach for the Appraisal of the Natural Background Levels of Major Ions and Some Potentially Toxic Elements in the Groundwater of Urmia Aquifer, Iran

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