ArcGIS for Environmental and Water Issues

Introduction

GIS (Geographic Information System) has great value in our time as it is a comprehensive information system evolved and still developing parallel with the advancing technology. This era of the human kind is characterized as an information age,where the whole world is experiencing and interacting with a new revolution that change our traditional way to look at the things and do a business in completely different approach.

The emphasis is on the technology and its use in every activity that range from agriculture, industry, business, social, research and education. The advancement in technology changed our world and our approaches to meet our need to rely completely on the technology and data. The value of information in our time becomes vital and important for development.

GIS itself is an important module of the information system. The economy of all industrial countries and many other nations all over the globe, become more dependent on services. This means that the current economy rely more and more on computers, networking, accurate information and data. This shift required a mass of skilled labors that are capable to deal with the technology and data processing.

GIS technology is not an exception when it comes to its use in water resources, geology, and environmental related problems. It is a powerful tool for developing solutions for many applications ranging from creating a color coded geological map, interpolating the water quality of groundwater aquifer to managing water resources on a local or regional scale.

Water is the most precious and valuable resource and vital for socioeconomic growth and sustainability of the environment. In some arid countries, the water resources are limited, scarce, and mainly sourced from groundwater. In some Middle Eastern countries surface water is limited to few river systems and intermittent streams that are associated with rain during

the winter time. Precipitation is vital and the primary source of recharge for various groundwater aquifers in these regions.

Groundwater in the region has been utilized through wells tapping various water-bearing formations to provide more fresh water to supply the increased demand water supply and irrigation. This practice negatively affected the whole hydrogeological setting of the basins. For example, total water withdrawal in the region (Israel, Jordan, and Palestinian territories) in 1994 was about 3050 million cubic meters. The estimated total renewable water supply that is practically available in the region is

about 2400 million cubic meters per year. The water deficit is being pumped from the aquifers without being replenished.

This practice caused the groundwater level to decline dramatically in some well fields, up to 20 m, which caused some major springs in 1990 to cease completely in Azraq basin, Jordan.

Therefore, management of water resources has become a major effort for governments in the region. Various ministries,water institution, and private companies worldwide are using the GIS as a tool to manage water resources in their countries.

The GIS can be used to capture data and developing hydrologic dataset for all components of water resources. Understand the region’s hydrology, map sources of contaminations, prepare water quality and water-rock interactions maps, delineate the

watershed areas, and much more.

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ArcGIS for Environmental and Water Issues