Determining safe yield and mapping water level zoning in groundwater resources of the Neishabour Plain

Abstract

Groundwater is a crucial sources of water supply, especially in arid and semi-arid areas around the world. With uncontrolled withdrawals and limited availability of these resources, it is essential to determine the safe yield of these valuable resources. The Hill method approach was used in this study to determine the safe yield the Neishabour aquifer in Khorasan Razvi province in Iran. The results showed that the safe yield in the Neishabour aquifer is 60% lower than the current pumping amounts during the study period, indicating that further overdrafts could result in the destruction of this aquifer. This highlights the importance of using the Hill method to estimate the permitted exploitation from other aquifers, thus preventing problems caused by over-extraction and maintaining stability of global groundwater levels.

Keywords

• hill method
• water level zoning maps
• groundwater pumping
• safe yield
• groundwater crisis