Numerical investigation of groundwater balance and artificial recharge in the Kerman-Baghin Aquifer

In the present paper, the behavior of Kerman-Baghin aquifer has been investigated using the MODFLOW program and GMS 10.3 software. The piezometer data during October 2011 are applied for steady state condition of groundwater modeling. Then, the model is calibrated for 66 months for unsteady condition using observational information, and it is validated for 24 months. Finally, the results are compared with the available observed data and show acceptable accuracy in calibration and validation steps. After validating the model, the status of the aquifer is estimated for a period of 5 years. Management scenarios including 10, 20 and 30 percent reduction in groundwater abstraction as well as artificial recharge at eight selected aquifer sites have been investigated. The location of artificial recharge sites is selected based on seven parameters of land slope, distance from waterways, distance from faults, electrical conductivity, hydraulic conductivity, geology of the area and groundwater depth (thickness of unsaturated area). These parameters are combined with the index overlay method by Arc GIS 10.3 software. The results show that by continuing the current situation, the Kerman-Baghin aquifer could face an average annual deficit of more than 52 million cubic meters. It may cause various problems in the near future including abstraction water from groundwater sources and reducing water quality. The results of implementing different scenarios show that, the best scenario can be obtained by 10% reducing water withdrawal with artificial recharge in four zones 1, 2, 10 and 12