Geostatistical analysis of spatiotemporal variability of groundwater level fluctuations in Amman-Zarqa basin, Jordan: a case study

The main objective of this study was to assess the spatial and temporal variability of groundwater level fluctuations in the Amman-Zarqa basin, during the period 2001-2005. In the year 2003, as a consequence of war, there was a sudden increase in the population in this basin. Knowing that the basin is already heavily populated and witnesses most of the human and industrial activities in Jordan, this study was prompted to help make wise water resources management decisions to cope with the new situation. Data from 31 fairly distributed wells in the upper aquifer of the basin were subjected to geostatistical treatment. Kriging interpolation techniques have indicated that the groundwater flow directions remained almost constant over the years. The two main directions are SW-NE and E-W. Kriging mapped fluctuations have also showed that drop and rise events are localized in the basin. Forecasting possibilities for management purposes were tackled using autocorrelation analysis. The constructed autocorrelograms indicated, in general, the temporal dependence of seasonal water level fluctuations, and that forecasting can be carried out within a period of 3-21 months. Several suggestions were made to mitigate the drop and rise hazards in the detected sites.