Depletion zones of groundwater resources in the Southwest Desert of Iraq

Abstract Aquifers offer a reliable supply of high-quality water, making groundwater significant in arid and semi-arid regions. Climate change is predicted to result decrease rainfall an increase droughts. The prolonged drought severely devastated Iraq the main reason for ongoing consumption over last decade. In this study, stresses depletion potentials Dammam confined aquifer, which extended along Najaf Muthanna governorates, are identified analyzed. By using Groundwater Modelling System (GMS v10.4) software, numerical simulation flow was used study aquifer system. upper layer modeled as unconfined, while bottom confined. findings from steady-state calibration indicate that hydraulic conductivity (HK) within area varies between 1.47 20.0 m/day. Additionally, recharging rate (RH) estimated be approximately 1.66 × 10 −6 These parameters were utilized initial condition conducting transient analysis. Two operating scenarios employed perform unsteady simulations. scenario involved utilization 89 production wells, second included all 139 stand-by resulting total 228 wells operational period July 2021 June 2022. results first operation showed drawdowns ranged 0.4 5.8 m, whereas drawdown increased 1.0 22 m. static heads measured by percentage relative difference. Hence, varied 4.32 33.34%. On other hand, 7.45