Evaluation of Strategies for Pumping Optimization of Coastal Aquifers Using Numerical Simulation and Game Theory

In this study, after simulating five years of saltwater intrusion with SEAWAT package in Astaneh-Kouchesfahan coastal aquifer, Iran, 19 strategies, including managerial, structural, and combined strategies, were investigated to reduce the saltwater intrusion. Since managerial solutions cause users’ dissatisfaction and structural solutions increase the costs, two-player game theory was used to identify the most appropriate solution. According to the results obtained from game theory, the two strategies of artificial recharge and underground dam had the greatest impact on preventing the saltwater intrusion with the highest satisfaction of stakeholders, so that they decreased the saltwater intrusion from 740 m by 150 and 300 m, respectively, after five years. Therefore, the combined simulator-optimizer method presented in this study can evaluate various solutions, and the most appropriate solution can be proposed with the lowest cost and maximum satisfaction for the sustainable management of coastal aquifers.

Control the Effect of Groundwater Rising Using GIS and Multi-Criteria Decision Making Techniques in Zubair, Southern of Iraq

A hybrid model of two multi-criteria decision making techniques specifically, the analytical hierarchy process method and the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution method was proposed to select the best site for constructing an underground dam to control the groundwater table rising or water-logging in the center of Al-Zubair city, southern Iraq. Six influencing factors were selected and prepared depending on the nature of the problem to be resolved the siting of the underground dam, and data availability. These are elevation, slope, curvature, aquifer transmissivity and specific yield, and distance to the water-logging body. Applying the hybrid system proved that approximately 50% of the study area is suitable for constructing the underground dam. Due to the expected high cost of constructing an underground dam in the study area as well as the technical challenges in implementing the project, the proposed design is digging a trench with limited width (meter or half a meter) and shallow depth (not more than 5 m) and fill the hole with an impermeable material (clay for example). It is preferred to drill wells in the headwater of the dam for pumping excess water and used it for another usage.

Prioritizing suitable locations for underground dam construction in south east of Bushehr Province

The solutions to deal with the water crisis are summarized into two strategies for managing water resources and extraction of new sources of water. In Iran, due to geographical and climatic conditions, water resources management has a high priority . One of the methods to control and store water in wet periods for using in dry periods is construction of underground dams. The most important problem in the development and creation of underground dams is the complexity of determining the suitable areas for the dams. Developing underground dams can be a viable solution to prevent land use change, the gradual drainage of groundwater and out of reach. The present study was conducted to find the underground dams using Boolean logic and for priority of underground dam sites using MCDM methods include AHP, ANP, VIKOR, TOPSIS and ELECTRE III in four provinces of Bushehr, Tangestan, Dashti, and Jam in southern Iran. The results obtained by Boolean logic showed that the total area of the studied site had about 305 km potential for underground dam construction. In the next step, according to Google Earth images and based on different indices including, axial length, reservoir, lithology, distance from village and roads, 23 potential axes were identified afterward, by extensive field surveys, among these 23 potential axes, 6 locations were identified as suitable locations. In order to prioritize these six areas, the MCDM models were used. Finally, the results of the MCDM models showed that sites have different ranks of 1 to 6 for constructing underground dams. In the end for determined the final rank using Copeland method that result showed Zayer Abbasi site was in the first priority and Faghih Hasenan site is in sixth priority. ANP and AHP method near the Copeland method.

Sensitivity analysis of seepage field in groundwater reservoir based on orthogonal test method

Based on the ADINA-T finite element software, the effects of different underground dam depths, widths and permeability coefficients on the seepage field in the underground reservoir were studied. Based on the sensitivity analysis and calculation of the three parameters of the underground dam based on the orthogonal experiment method, the depth and permeability coefficient of the underground dam have a significant effect on the sensitivity of the groundwater level drop height in front of the dam, the width and the permeability coefficient have a significant effect on the maximum flow velocity, and depth has great influence on seepage flow.