Evaluation of Jiroft Plain Aquifer Vulnerability Potential Using DRASTIC and CD Models

Protection of underground water from pollution is a very important issue. Underground water vulnerability maps are useful tools for aquifer protection and pollution potential evaluation. The present study aims to evaluate the vulnerability of the Jiroft Plain aquifer using DRASTIC and CD models in the Geographical Information System (GIS).

The information relevant to these models was collected and entered into the GIS software in order to prepare the required layers of the models. Then, using overlapping techniques and applying the necessary weight coefficients on each layer, the final vulnerability map of the area was prepared.

According to the DRASTIC index results for the Jiroft plain aquifer, 8.04% of the area was in the low vulnerability class and 91.96% was in the medium vulnerability class. While, according to CD, 99.13% of the studied area had low vulnerability and 0.86% of it was in the medium vulnerability class. In addition, based on the results of two-parameter elimination and one-parameter sensitivity analysis in the DRASTIC model, the most influential parameter in evaluating the vulnerability of the studied aquifer was the unsaturated environment factor.

The majority of the studied area has low vulnerability to underground water pollution and the unsaturated environment factor was the most significant factor in this area's vulnerability evaluation.