An Assessment of Shallow Groundwater Wells in an Agricultural and Coastal Area in Göksu Delta, Turkey

GÜNER E. D., Tekin S., SEÇKİN G.

Bilge International Journal of Science and Technology Research, vol.2, no.1, pp.9-16, 2018 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

Abstract

 The Göksu Delta of Turkey is an alluvial delta with intense agricultural activity and has great ecological and economic significance. The delta is environmental protection area in term of remarkable in natural life. In particular, water birds are an important point, delta chosen as Ramsar site. So, this special area is important in terms of monitoring water quality and effects of anthropogenic activities (such as agricultural). Water samples were collected monthly from 24 wells in the study area, and 13 water quality parameters were examined. The objective of the study was also to determination the water quality in wells of the Göksu Delta and assess levels of salinisation in the region. Piper diagrams and the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to generate ionic ratios to evaluate water quality in the study area in an efficient manner. Overall, the groundwater examined has medium levels of salinity and low sodium content. Piper diagram shows that all the samples collected from the region are located in NaCl, KCl, Na2SO4 zone. The increase in groundwater salinity and amounts of Na+ and Cl- are indicators of saltwater intrusion. Rock dissolution and ion exchange were also found to play an active role in the region. All of these factors affect the sustainability of the freshwater aquifers and lower their quality for wildlife species