Assessing the effects of meteorological and hydrogeological droughts ‎on groundwater balance in Tuyserkan Plain

Assessing drought effects on water resources are important on optimizing water management activities in agriculture and natural resources sectors. The groundwater model can be used as a valuable tool in the management of groundwater resources. Therefore, investigation of ground water balance analysis affected by meteorological drought using mathematical models is applicable and important objectives in sustainable development of water resources and the environment. Tuyserkan is one of the most important plains in Hamadan province as the main source of water supply for the water wells usage in orchards and farms. The goal of this research is assessing the effects of metrological drought index on water balance changes using mathematical modeling by GMS software. For this purpose, after calculation of Standardized Precipitation Index and determination of wet and dry spells in the study area, and selection of three sample years as normal (1387), wet (1388) and dry (1389), the groundwater balance was analyzed in this three sample years. The normal year was used for calibration of the model and wet and dry years for validation of the GMS. The results showed that the GMS model can simulate groundwater level in normal, wet and dry year (error statistics are respectively 0.73, 0.85 and 0.93). Comparison of meteorological and hydrological drought indices showed that meteorological drought cannot affect the groundwater level alone and excess use of exploitation wells has great influence on the groundwater table changes. Interestingly, the results showed that drought strongly influences water balance changes.