GIS-based analytical modeling on evaluating impacts of urbanization in Amman water resources, Jordan

Abstract

Amman governorate is the largest governorate in term of population and urbanization in Jordan that is the third most water-scarce country worldwide. It has also limited water resources that were rapidly decreasing as results of groundwater over-pumping and climate changes that generates a serious water crisis. However, the population and urbanization focused on the Northwest of the governorate. The surface water and groundwater resources are available in the Northwest area as well. The overlaying between urbanization and population on one-hand and water resources on the other hand resulted in different environmental, hydrological, and hydrogeological problems. Our research investigated these problems using an integrated approach of remotes sensing and geographic information systems.Furthermore, our research suggested a spatial plan that would solve the con ict of urbanization impact on water resources in Amman. Accordingly, the catchment areas that span on the study area and their drainage network were de ned. IntroductionAmman governorate has an area of about 7,579 km 2 and about 4,007,000 inhabitants (Perdew 2014, Department of Statistics 2014). The population in Amman governorate has been increasing dramatically in the last 40 years. The population growth rate is at 5.8%. In addition to this growth, there is a continuous ux of migrations and refugees from neighboring countries like Palestine, the Arabian Gulf area, Iraq, and Syria which accelerates the urban expansion (Potter et al. 2009, Odeh et al. 2017). However, in 1921 Amman was generated as the capital city of Trans-jordan and has about 5,000 inhabitants whom are mostly from Circassian, Syrian origin and the surrounded cities such as Irbid and Al-Salt. During 1961During -1979 the population has increased from 215,000 inhabitants to 777,800 by the population growth, second Palestinian refugee migration, and the Civil War in Lebanon. The rst and the second gulf war in the 1990's forced more refugee waves to migrate to Jordan in general and to Amman speci cally and the population becomes 851,000, and 1,017,000 inhabitants respectively. In 2014 the population of Amman become 1,698,000 after the migration of Syrians due to the civil war.Urban area expanding because of inhabitants increasing is a common process in the capital cities such as Amman (Schneider et al 1973, Butler 2000. However, previous studies show that urban expanding in Amman due to the population growth has increased the urbanized area from about 147 km 2 in the year 1987 to 237 km 2 in 2014 that means the urbanized area increased by almost 61% over the last three decades. During these decades urban expanding was at a high-rate stage during 1987-1997 and at a

Sustainable Water Management for Azraq Geopark: Enhancing Environmental Sustainability and Geotourism

“…Due to the topographical variations, in addition to other hydrogeological factors, groundwater levels within the upper aquifer can range from just a few meters in the center of the Azraq Oasis to as deep as 400 meters in the northern regions [11]. The occurrence and movement of groundwater are influenced by various natural factors, including slope, drainage patterns, landform, land use/land cover, and climate [12][13][14]. The climate is the main driver of water scarcity in Jordan and particularly in Azraq, but the population in the country has rapidly grown from 5.1 million in 2004 to around 12 million in 2021, resulting in increased water demand and pressure on the country's limited resources.…”