Evaluation of the vulnerability of the Western Mountain aquifer to pollution

Abstract

The paper introduces a preliminary physical measure of vulnerability of groundwater to pollution called “mean relative travel time of a pollutant”, which is defined as the time of passage through the unsaturated zone of a front of water containing a conservative pollutant and applied to the ground surface at a unit intensity of supply. A methodology for mapping the mean relative travel time is presented and applied to the recharge area of the Western Mountain, (Yarkon-Taninim) aquifer. The aquifer, which extends from the mountain range west of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean coast line, is subdivided into a set of 5×5 km2 cells, and a mean relative travel time is computed for each cell within the recharge area of the aquifer. The estimated mean travel times are directly proportional to the depth to groundwater and inversely proportional to the ratio between the coefficient of replenishment and the water content of the unsaturated zone. Estimates of the latter are obtained from regression of the rise in well water levels during the winter season on the corresponding seasonal rainfall depth. They show relative travel times in the range of one decade in the outcrops of the lower subaquifer and along the foothills, and relative travel times in the range of two to three decades along the mountain range outcrops of the upper subaquifer.