Quantitative assessment of groundwater resources and their relationship with land use changes and climatic factors (Case study: Chamchamal plain)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Watershed management, Faculty of natural resources and marine sciences, Tarbiat modares university, Noor, Iran.

2 Department of watershed management, Faculty of natural resources and marine sciences , Tarbiat modares university, Noor, Iran.

3 Department of Hydraulics and water resources, Academic center for education, Culture and research (ACECR), Kermanshah, Iran.

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study is to analyze the spatiotemporal pattern of groundwater levels using geostatistical methods, investigate the impact of land-use changes on groundwater level fluctuations, and examine hydrological factors (including meteorological drought and groundwater drought) influencing groundwater level variations.
 
Method: In this study, land use changes and climatic variations were evaluated as the most important human and environmental factors in groundwater level decline, and their relationship with groundwater levels in Chamchamal Plain was examined over a 25-year period. For this purpose, land use maps for three time periods (1990, 2003, and 2015) were obtained from Landsat TM, ETM+, and OLI satellite imagery using the Maximum Likelihood Classification method. Water level data from 21 piezometric wells were interpolated using Ordinary Kriging (OK) with minimum RMSE and MBE. The SPI and GRI indices were used to determine drought and wet periods.
 
Results: According to the results, agricultural, residential, and industrial areas increased by 2 times, more than 2 times, and more than 8 times, respectively. The maximum groundwater level decline was estimated at 22 meters in the southwestern part of the plain. The water table showed a decreasing trend, with an average decline of about 7 meters across the region. Pearson correlation coefficient between average groundwater level changes and average rainfall indicated that rainfall and groundwater level fluctuations occurred simultaneously with a 2-month lag.
 
Conclusions: Excessive groundwater extraction during droughts has intensified the decline and prevented recovery during wet periods, resulting in a persistent decreasing trend.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Advanced Technologies in Water Efficiency
Volume 5, Issue 3
September 2025
Pages 92-113

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History

  • Receive Date: 29 March 2025
  • Revise Date: 02 June 2025
  • Accept Date: 05 July 2025

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