Numerical Modeling and Trend Analysis of Mahabad Aquifer Quantitative Status

Groundwater is an essential natural resource that is widely used to meet domestic, industrial, and agricultural needs. In recent years, the amount of withdrawal from groundwater has been more than the amount of its recharging leading to going out of balance. Since groundwater is in the ground and it is not possible to observe directly, identifying its properties is time-consuming and expensive. On the other hand, problems such as inconsistent and incomplete input information, heterogeneous aquifers, etc., have made groundwater study difficult. In many watersheds, groundwater resources are the strategic and primary source of water supply for different users. However, groundwater extraction has exceeded the amount rate of recharge in many regions around the world, resulting in harmful ecological and environmental problems, such as water level decline, water quality degradation, drying up of wells, increased pumping costs, and land subsidence. Assessing groundwater resources for their available water volume and obtaining an accurate prediction of groundwater levels (GWL) is central to sustainable management (i.e., balancing between demand and supply) of groundwater and surface water resources in a watershed. Therefore, tools such as groundwater modeling are used to solve this problem. Simulation of groundwater flow with mathematical models is an indirect approach to solving problems with lower costs than direct methods. In fact, the use of mathematical modeling is to simulate the natural conditions of the water surface with mathematical relationships. Groundwater modeling is done using differential equations, and one of the most widely used methods in solving groundwater problems is the use of finite differences and finite elements. Accordingly, the groundwater modeling system (GMS) model and the MODFLOW code were used in this research to study the Mahabad aquifer. Next, the trend of changes in the groundwater level of the range was analyzed by non-parametric tests. Accordingly, the groundwater modeling system (GMS) model and the MODFLOW code were used in this research to study the Mahabad aquifer.

The study area of Mahabad is located in West Azarbaijan province. GMS software and MODFLOW code were used for groundwater simulation. Using the information of 22 observation wells, exploitation wells information, river information, recharge, and withdrawal from groundwater, the desired model was built. . The model was run in September 2015 for the steady-state and October 2010- September 2011 for the transient state with a monthly time step. The values for hydraulic conductivity and storage coefficient were calibrated for the steady and transient states, respectively. Aquifer thickness varied from 60 to 200 m, and the cell size was considered 200 × 200 m. Rainfall infiltration, return flow, and input flows feed the aquifer. Seventeen percent of the monthly rainfall was considered rainfall infiltration that fed the aquifer. Moreover, based on the wells' primary use, return water from the wells was considered about70, 75, and 20% for drinking water, industrial and agricultural wells, respectively. The GWL is higher in the South part of the aquifer compared to other parts and, as we move from the South part of the aquifer towards its central and southern regions, the GWL declines. In conclusion, the groundwater flows from the upper South part of the aquifer towards its lower part. More exploitation wells are in the aquifer's central section, and most of their extracted water is used for urban and agricultural purposes. It was then implemented in two stable and unstable modes and its performance was evaluated with root mean square (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and coefficient of determination (R2) criteria. Various statistical methods have been provided to analyze the trend of time series. Among them, non-parametric methods are more useful in the time series of hydrological variables. These methods are suitable for time series that have elongation or skewness and are independent of the statistical distribution of the time series.  In the following, the Mann-Kendall method and Sen’s slope were used to determine the trend of the groundwater level at significant levels of 90, 95, 99, and 99.9%.

The simulation results showed that there is a very good agreement between the simulation and observational data. The model evaluation criteria including RMSE, MAE, and R2 for two stable and unstable modes were calculated as 0.84, 0.63, and 0.99, as well as 0.88, 0.72, and 0.98 m, respectively. These values showed the appropriate efficiency of the model. Based on the results, the highest level of groundwater was in the south of the Mahabad aquifer and the lowest level was in the north of the aquifer.  The optimized values ​​of hydraulic conductivity, special yield, aquifer thicknesses, values ​​of exploitation wells, and aquifer transmissivity were determined from the groundwater simulation results. The results of the Mann-Kendall test showed that Haji Khosh, Gapis, and Gorg Tapeh stations had the highest downward trend. So, in these stations, the downward trend was more significant at the level of 0.99%. The Mann-Kendall Z-parameter values were positive for the Qom Qala station, which indicated the rising trend of the underground water level in this area. The results of Sen’s slope test also confirmed the results of the Mann-Kendall test. It was so that the Sen’s slope test showed that the downward slope of the three stations Haji Khosh, Gapis, and Gorg Tapeh occurs more strongly.

The results of this research showed that GMS and MODFLOW codes are suitable tools for simulating groundwater and the condition of the aquifer with proper accuracy. Also, the results of Mann-Kendall and Sen’s slope tests showed that out of 19 wells, almost 18 had a downward trend, which shows that the Mahabad aquifer is not in a favorable condition and with the increase in harvesting and decrease in rainfall, especially in recent years, its situation will worsen. The Mann-Kendall test showed that the Mahabad aquifer is in poor condition so out of the 19 investigated wells, approximately 18 wells had a downward trend in the groundwater level. The age slope estimator method also confirmed the Mann-Kendall results. Examining the obtained results exhibits that the use of new approaches for simulation provides the opportunity to manage and balance the allocation of groundwater resources effectively. Further, the use of new tools can be considered for implementing balancing scenarios related to groundwater resources.