land cover

Groundwater quantity and quality of shallow aquifers have deteriorated in recent years due to rapid development that has created an increased demand for drinking water, which is increasingly being fulfilled by groundwater abstraction. The study evaluates the hydrogeological framework of the Quaternary aquifer of the Kabul basin, Afghanistan, and the impact of urbanization on the groundwater resources around the Kabul city plain.

The main purpose of this paper is to present a case study where a water balance concept was applied to describe the expected groundwater safe yield on a sub-catchment scale. The balance considers effective recharge based on local hydrogeology and land cover types, basic human needs, groundwater contribution to baseflow, existing abstraction and evaporation. Data is derived from public datasets, including the WRC 90 Water Resources of South Africa 2012 Study, 2013-2014 South African (SA) National Land Cover and Groundwater Resource Assessment Ver. 2 (GRAII) datasets.

Groundwater water levels and the ability of aquifers to sustain water have been reportedly on the decline in specific areas in the Northern Cape Province in South Africa. The study area is located in an arid regional with mean annual precipitation of less than 400 mm/a, which is drought prone. The hydrological balances indicated that the required groundwater recharge to balance is at least 20 times less than the expected minimum natural recharge. Further investigation indicated that evapo-transpiration forms +95% of the hydrological balance.