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Water table fluctuation analyses and associated empirical approach to predict spatial distribution of water table at Yeşilköy/AgiosAndronikos aquifer

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Abstract

The groundwater of the deep Yeşilköy aquifer is the only water resource for agricultural and domestic consumption at the Karpaz Peninsula of Cyprus, which stretches approximately 100 km from the northeast of capital Nicosia to the northern tip of Cyprus. During the last decade, over-pumping and following dry periods have depleted the groundwater resources and the water surface elevation of the aquifer has dropped. The aim of this study is to understand the behavior of the Yeşilköy aquifer in the last decade for the proper management of groundwater resources. This has been achieved based on well survey and field survey studies, monitoring programs followed by pumping tests, and safe yield analysis. Most of the research effort has been focused on field and well survey studies to quantify agricultural water consumption and abstraction rates from the aquifer. A long-term groundwater level monitoring program, short-term continuous groundwater monitoring and pumping tests provided information for the regression analyses while deriving a sixth order polynomial relationship between the period parameter and the head parameter. The equation was helpful to predict the short-term behavior of the water level when the present hydrogeological conditions prevail. The pumping test results satisfied the hydraulic properties of calcarenite formation yielding T = 1,782 m2/day and S = 0.0012. The results of safe yield analysis show that the annual deficit of the aquifer is 0.496 million cubic meters (MCM), which is equivalent to a 0.6 m drop in groundwater levels per year. Finally, the resultant annual safe yield of the aquifer is estimated as 0.84 MCM.

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Acknowledgments

The discussion and findings of this paper are based in part on data generated by a study of the Yeşilköy/AgiosAndronikos aquifer conducted by the Supporting Activities that Value the Environment (SAVE) project, which was implemented by the International Resources Group, Inc. and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The authors would like to acknowledge this important contribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Eastern Mediterranean University, Civil Engineering Department, Gazimağusa, North Cyprus, Mersin 10, Turkey

    Umut Türker

  2. MWH Americas Inc, 10 Lutheran Church Street, PO Box 465, Ramallah, West Bank

    Bahaa S. Alsalabi

  3. Water Works Department, Division of Modeling and GIS, Lefkoşa, North Cyprus, Mersin 10, Turkey

    Temel Rızza

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  1. Umut Türker
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  2. Bahaa S. Alsalabi
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  3. Temel Rızza
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Correspondence to Umut Türker.

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Türker, U., Alsalabi, B.S. & Rızza, T. Water table fluctuation analyses and associated empirical approach to predict spatial distribution of water table at Yeşilköy/AgiosAndronikos aquifer. Environ Earth Sci 69, 63–75 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1934-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1934-2

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