Investigating future changes in groundwater quantity and quality in the Khash alluvial aquifer through numerical groundwater flow and solute transport modeling

The Khash alluvial aquifer, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, supplies the water needed for agriculture, drinking, and industry in the Khash area. In order to predict the future status of groundwater level and water quality, and to find aquifer management solutions, groundwater flow and solute transport models were developed using MODFLOW and MT3DMS. GMS 10.3 was used to develop the model. Calibration and validation of the model were performed using a seven-year period and a three-year period, respectively. The results showed that the flow model has a good performance in simulating groundwater levels when compared to observational data. The RMSE values ​​for calibration and validation periods were 0.67 m and 0.96 m, respectively. The solute transport model was established based on the groundwater flow model and was calibrated based on observational data of Cl- concentration in eight wells over a 10-year period from October 2007 to September 2016. The calibrated models were used to evaluate two scenarios in the forecast period (2016-2026). In the first prediction scenario, assuming the aquifer recharge and discharge rates are similar to the current condition, it was found that a significant drawdown in water levels will occur in most parts of the aquifer, especially south and southeast of the aquifer. As a result, the average water level will drop by more than 1.5 meters over 10 years, and consequently, Cl- concentration and groundwater salinity will increase. In the other scenario, which was defined to determine the safe yield of groundwater, it was found that to reach equilibrium and prevent increases in salinity, groundwater withdrawals from wells should be reduced by 50%.