Groundwater in Basrah Governorate

Abstract

           Basrah Governorate is located in southern Iraq and is bordered to the south by the Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf, to the east by Iran, to the north by Maysan Governorate, and to the west by Al-Muthanna Governorate. Hydrogeological studies have shown that groundwater is present in two important aquifers in the area between Al-Zubair and Safwan, which are the aquifer of recent deposits resulting from the erosion of the Dibdibba formation, and the Dibdibba aquifer. These aquifers were characterized by their varying thickness rates and variations in their hydraulic and hydrochemical properties, in addition to the third aquifer, which is represented by recent deposits with salt water belonging to the Holocene-Pleistocene era, which consists of gravel, sand, silt and clay, which is located to the north of the Zubair area. The map of groundwater levels showed that there are several directions of flow, the most important of which is from the southwestern side towards the north and northeast, as well as to the east, that is, towards the alluvial plain, from which it moving towards the Arabian Gulf. In general, the movement of groundwater corresponds to the topography of this area. By interpreting the hydrochemical data, we find that the concentrations of total dissolved salts (TDS) range between (5000-9000) mg/L in the Zubair area and its surrounding areas, and the amount of salts increases towards the east, reaching (15,000) mg/L in some areas. As for the southern desert region, the value of salts ranges between (2000-4000) mg/l and is less than this value towards the south with the border with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The water in the Dibdiba aquifer is not suitable for drinking by humans due to the high concentrations of salts. However, although the salt concentrations are outside the permissible limits for agricultural purposes, it is used in growing some agricultural crops such as tomatoes because the soil has high permeability in addition to the depth of the ground level is deep (more than 5 meters), and for the above reasons, salts do not accumulate at the roots of plants.