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Soil salinization and critical shallow groundwater depth under saline irrigation condition in a Saharan irrigated land

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Abstract

In the arid irrigated lands, understanding the impact of shallow groundwater fluctuation on soil salinization has become crucial. Thus, investigation of the possible options for maintaining the groundwater depth for improving land productivity is of great importance. In this study, under saline irrigation condition, the effects of shallow groundwater depth on water and salt dynamics in the root-zone of date palms were analyzed through a particular field and modeling (SWAP) investigation in a Tunisian Saharan oasis (Dergine Oasis). The model was calibrated and validated against the measured soil water content through the date palm root-zone. The good agreement between measured and estimated soil water content demonstrated that the SWAP model is an effective tool to accurately simulate the water and salt dynamics in the root-zone of date palm. Multiple groundwater depth scenarios were performed, using the calibrated SWAP model, to achieve the optimal groundwater depth. The simulation results revealed that the shallow groundwater with a depth of ~80 cm coupled with frequent irrigation (20 days interval) during the summer season is the best practice to maintain the adequate soil water content (>0.035 (cm3 cm−3) and safe salinity level (<4 dS m−1) in the root-zone layer. The results of field investigation and numerical simulation in the present study can lead to a better management of lands with shallow water table in the Saharan irrigated areas.

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Acknowledgements

The first author is grateful to the Office South Development, Tunisia (ODS) for financial support of this project. The second author gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Science, and Spatial Planning (FORMAS). We would also like to thank the staff of this office. The authors are thankful for the technical assistance given by the staff of the National Infrastructure Company, Tunisia (SCET-Tunisia) during the field works.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water, Energy, and Environment Laboratory, National Engineering School of Sfax, 3038, Sfax, Tunisia

    Zied Haj-Amor & Salem Bouri

  2. Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Department of Water Resources Engineering, Lund University, Box 118, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Hossein Hashemi

Authors
  1. Zied Haj-Amor
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  2. Hossein Hashemi
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  3. Salem Bouri
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Correspondence to Zied Haj-Amor.

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Haj-Amor, Z., Hashemi, H. & Bouri, S. Soil salinization and critical shallow groundwater depth under saline irrigation condition in a Saharan irrigated land. Arab J Geosci 10, 301 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-3093-y

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