Assessment of Groundwater Recharge Potential Depending on Morphologic Analysis in East of Wasit, Southeastern Iraq

Abstract

Modern technologies are used for watershed management to cope with drought risks in arid and semi-arid regions. The study aimed to conduct a morphometric analysis and know potential groundwater recharge areas in the eastern region of Wasit Province. Remote sensing and GIS data were used for morphometric analysis. The morphometric analysis results adopted the Digital Elevation Model. The results of the analysis were verified by matching the results with what exists in reality. The area of the first basin was 1482.017, as it is the largest basin from the area, with a percent of 51.228% of the total area of all basins. The percentage of first-degree flows reached 83.37% in the first basin, 74.14% percent in the second basin, 75.51% in the third basin, and 75.75% in the fourth basin from all streams in each basin. The bifurcation rate (3.135-4.233), Stream frequency range values (0.543-0.332), drainage texture coarse, low drainage density that ranged between 0.986-1.14 km/km2 elongation ratio ranging from 0.348-0.624 form factor (0.095-0.316). The basins' circularity (0.105-0.238) relief value (951-112) m infiltration number value (0.369-0.535). All basins have a longitudinal shape and lead to the formation of floods and rapid currents, which exposes the region to rapid seasonal floods and the creation of flash floods that cause soil erosion and analyses the drainage intensity results. It was low, and this is an indication that the ground has high permeability. The flow frequency results indicate that the area is semi-arid and exposed to small amounts of rain and coarse drainage texture by comparing the result parameters from morphometric analysis results for each basin. The potential recharge areas of groundwater in the study area can be known, n as the analysis results showed that recharge potential occurs in all basins. The highest groundwater recharge is possible in the third basin and the lowest in the first basin. Morphometric analysis was performed by ARC-GIS(Arc-map10.4).