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Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in coastal zone using SI method and GIS: case study of Bouficha aquifer (northeast Tunisia)

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Abstract

Nowadays, groundwater is under stress due to contamination, over-exploitation, seawater intrusion, climate change, etc. The groundwater contamination is the major problem which can engender the total deterioration of the aquifer. The groundwater vulnerability assessment may contribute to predicate and to delimitate the areas affected by contamination or any future pollution. This research aims to zoning the potential pollution of the Bouficha shallow aquifer, located in the northeast Tunisia, using the SI model and GIS. Five parameters are presented in the SI model: depth to groundwater (D), recharge (R), aquifer media (A), topography (T), and land use (LU). The different parameters were collected from diverse sources for assess groundwater vulnerability. The net recharge map was generated using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis method based on different parameters (slope, lithology, LU, soil, and drainage density). The generated vulnerability map shows three vulnerability classes: low vulnerability (< 45), moderate vulnerability (45–64), and high vulnerability (64–84) which represent 3.14%, 76.8%, and 20.06% of the total area, respectively. The SI vulnerability represent a moderate positive correlation with the measured nitrate concentrations (R2 = 0.76). The sensitivity analysis shows that the land use parameter is the most influential parameter for groundwater vulnerability in BFC.

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Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This research is conducted in the context of MEDSAL Project © (www.medsal.eu), which is part of the PRIMA Programme supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and funded by the national funding agency of MHESR (grant number 2018–12).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, Sedimentary Environments, Laboratory of Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Geology (SBPG), LR18 ES07, 2092, Tunis, Tunisia

    Madiha Arfaoui, Soumaya Aouiti, Fadoua Hamzaoui Azaza & Mounira Zammouri

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  1. Madiha Arfaoui
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  2. Soumaya Aouiti
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  3. Fadoua Hamzaoui Azaza
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  4. Mounira Zammouri
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Contributions

Soumaya Aouiti and Madiha Arfaoui were responsible for lead, conceptualisation, investigation, methodology, formal analysis. Soumaya Aouiti was responsible for manuscript redaction. Fadoua Hamzaoui-Azaza was responsible for conceptualization, formal analysis, and visualization. Mounira Zammouri was responsible for conceptualisation, validation, and supervision. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Soumaya Aouiti.

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Arfaoui, M., Aouiti, S., Azaza, F.H. et al. Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in coastal zone using SI method and GIS: case study of Bouficha aquifer (northeast Tunisia). Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 75699–75715 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21053-9

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