Abstract
The southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh has a severe problem of extracting groundwater due to salinity intrusion. This study aims at the vulnerability assessment of the shallow aquifer of such a salinity-affected region of coastal Bangladesh. GIS-based DRASTIC Index method has been applied in Bagerhat Sadar, Fakirhat and Rampal Upazila which accounts parameters like Depth to the water table, net Recharge, Aquifer media, Soil media, Topography, Impact of the vadose zone, and hydraulic Conductivity. Finally, the mapping of the DRASTIC Index has been resulted in low-, moderate- and high-vulnerable zones. This study reveals that about 85.43% area which is 656.85 km2 is exposed to moderate vulnerability. Only 7.88% area is under low risk, whereas 6.69% area is highly vulnerable. Fortunately, the southwestern part which is adjacent to the coast has a comparatively low vulnerability. The northeastern region which carries the urban area is characterized by highly vulnerable zones. Moderate- and high-vulnerable zones imply more accessibility of saline surface water to the ground.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
All the secondary data were collected from WARPO, BWDB, BARC, and DPHE.
References
Abdeslam I, Fehdi C, Djabri L (2017) Application of drastic method for determining the vulnerability of an alluvial aquifer: Morsott-El Aouinet north east of Algeria: using arcgis environment. Scie Direct Energy Proced 119(2017):308–317
Adhikary SK, Hossain AI, Babel MS, Gupta AD (2013) Drastic-based vulnerability assessment of Barind Tract aquifer in Northwestern Bangladesh. In: 4th international conference on water and flood management (ICWFM-2013)
Akther N (2010) Assessing aquifer vulnerability to seawater intrusion. Institute of Water and Flood Management, Dhaka, p 119
Aller L, Bennet T, Lehr J, Petty R (1987) DRASTIC: a standardised system for evaluating groundwater pollution potential using hydrologic settings. US EPA Report, 600/2–87/035
Alley W (2009) Encyclopedia of inland waters. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Al-Zabet T (2002) Evaluation of aquifer vulnerability to contamination potential using the DRASTIC method. Environ Geol 2002(43):203–208
Ayers JC, Goodbred S, George G, Fry D, Benneyworth L, Hornberger G, Roy K, Karim MR, Akter F (2016) Sources of salinity and arsenic in groundwater in southwest Bangladesh. Geochem Trans Geochem Trans 2016(17):4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12932-016-0036-6
Bhunia GS, Pravat KS, Ramkrishna M (2018) Comparison of GIS-based interpolation methods for spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC). J Saudi Soc Agric Sci 17(2):114–126
Ersoy AF, Gultekin F (2013) DRASTIC-based methodology for assessing groundwater vulnerability in the Gumushacıkoy and Merzifon basin (Amasya, Turkey). Earth Sci Res SJ 17(1):33–40
Ghosh A, Tiwari AK, Das S (2015) A GIS based DRASTIC model for assessing groundwater vulnerability of Katri Watershed, Dhanbad. Springer International Publishing, India
Haider R (1992) Cyclone 91’ revisited: a follow-up study. Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies, Dhaka
Halcrow et al (1993) Final report of hydrology. Hydro-geology and ROAM, South West Area Water Resources Management Project
Jaseela C, Prabhakar K, Harikumar PS (2016) Application of GIS and DRASTIC modeling for evaluation of groundwater vulnerability near a solid waste disposal site. Earth Environ Sci Int J Geosci 7:558
Kirkham MB (2014) Principles of soil and plant water relations. Elsevier, Oxford
Mahmuduzzaman M, Ahmed ZU, Nuruzzaman A, Ahmed FR (2014) Causes of salinity intrusion in coastal Belt of Bangladesh. Int J Plant Res 20:2163–2596
MPO (1987) Groundwater resources of Bangladesh. Dhaka: technical report no. 5. Master Plan Organization, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of Bangladesh. Harza
National Research Council (1993) Groundwater vulnerability assessment, contamination potential underconditions of uncertainty. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, p 2005
Paul BK, Rashid H (2016) Climatic hazards in coastal Bangladesh. Elsevier, Oxford
Saha D, Alam F (2014) Groundwater vulnerability assessment using DRASTIC and pesticide DRASTIC models in intense agriculture area of the Gangetic plains India. Environ Monit Assess 186(12):8741–8763
Salehin M, Chowdhury MM, Clarke D, Mondal S, Nowreen S, Jahiruddin M, Haque A (2018) Mechanisms and drivers of soil salinity in coastal Bangladesh. Ecosyst Serv Well-Being Deltas 20:333–347
Sarker M (2005) Spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater in Southwest region of Bangladesh using GIS technique. Dhaka
Sarwar MG (2013) Sea-level rise along the coast of Bangladesh. Disaster risk reduction approaches in Bangladesh, pp 217–231
Shamsuddoha M, Chowdhury RK (2007) Climate change impact and disaster vulnerabilities in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. COAST Trust, Dhaka
Stigter TY, Ribeiro L, Dill AC (2006) Evaluation of an intrinsic and a specific vulnerability assessment method in comparison with groundwater salinisation and nitrate contamination levels in two agricultural regions in the south of Portugal. Hydrogeol J 2006(14):79–99
Umar R, Ahmed I, Alam F (2009) Mapping groundwater vulnerable zones using modified DRASTIC approach of an alluvial aquifer in parts of central Ganga plain, Western Uttar Pradesh. J Geol Soc India 73(2):93–201
Woobaidullah A, Rahman MR, Arndt R (1996) Geoelectrical resistivity survey for suitable freshwater aquifer identification in the coastal belt of southeast Bangladesh. J Geol B A 139/1:127–137
Yadav S, Singh B, Humphreys E, Kukal SS (2013) Effective management of scarce water resources in North-West India. Agricultural Sustainability progress and prospects in crop research. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 103–125
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to WARPO, BWDB, BARC, and DPHE for providing necessary data for this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. KTKN initiated and perceived the idea, performed data collection. RA wrote the manuscript. RB revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nahin, K.T.K., Basak, R. & Alam, R. Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment with DRASTIC Index Method in the Salinity-Affected Southwest Coastal Region of Bangladesh: A Case Study in Bagerhat Sadar, Fakirhat and Rampal. Earth Syst Environ 4, 183–195 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-019-00144-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-019-00144-7