The water of the Jordan Valley : scarcity and deterioration of groundwater and its impact on the regional development

Natural saline water, waste water, and irrigation return flow endanger the groundwater aquifers in the Rift. In the long run this will ruin the socio-economic backbone of the settlements in the area. Sustainability of the water resources will only be achieved when the process of water replenishment and its underground flow is understood and water extraction is regionally controlled. Rare earth element and spider patterns are presented as new tools for studying the hydrology. Progress in 3-D modelling of groundwater flow proved successfully the impact of pumping on the surroundings of wells and overexploitation of aquifers.

1 Introduction	p. 1
1.1 Scope and goals	p. 1
1.2 Regional setting	p. 3
2 State of the Art	p. 15
2.1 Geology	p. 15
2.2 Hydrogeology	p. 55
2.3 The hydrochemical history of the Rift	p. 75
3 Research Studies	p. 83
3.1 Hydrochemical aspects	p. 83
3.1.1 Characterization of aquifer environments by major and minor elements and stable isotopes of sulfate	p. 83
3.1.2 Characterization of recharge areas by rare earth elements and stable isotopes of H[subscript 2]O	p. 123
3.1.3 Regional hydrochemical and hydrogeological aspects of groundwater in the Jordan-Dead Sea Rift system	p. 149
3.2 Specific regional hydrological aspects	p. 181
3.2.1 Geophysical investigations of the hydrogeological basins in the central Jordan Valley	p. 181
3.2.2 Hydrogeology and flow pattern along the Fazael-E-Salt cross-section	p. 199
3.2.3 Lake Tiberias and its dynamic hydrochemical environment	p. 219
3.2.4 Retreat of the Dead Sea and its effect on the surrounding groundwater resources and the stability of its coastal deposits	p. 247
3.3 Aquifers in the western Jordan Valley	p. 265
3.3.1 The Uppermost aquifer in the Wadi Qilt area	p. 265
3.3.2 3-D Hydrogeological model of the Marsaba-Feshkha region	p. 287
3.3.3 Groundwater flow and transport model of the Jericho area	p. 313
3.3.4 Hydrochemistry and isotope hydrogeology in the Jericho area/Palestine	p. 325
3.3.5 A GIS based hydrosystem model for the Jericho Plain, Palestine	p. 349
3.4 Aquifers in the eastern Jordan Valley	p. 361
3.4.1 Hydrogeology and hydrochemistry of Wadi Waleh and Wadi Zarqa Ma'in catchment, central Jordan	p. 361
3.4.2 GIS based model for groundwater flow and heat transport in Zarqa Ma'in and Jiza area, central Jordan	p. 371
3.4.3 Groundwater conditions of the Jordan Rift escarpment northeast of the Dead Sea	p. 385
3.4.4 Protective potential of soils, ground-water vulnerability and hazards in the Wadi Shueib, Jordan	p. 413
3.4.5 An integrated approach for the hydrogeological investigation of unconsolidated aquifers in the lower Jordan Valley	p. 447
4 Groundwater Management	p. 465
4.1 Overview of available water resources and uses in the Jordan Rift Valley	p. 465
4.2 Sustainable management of groundwater resources	p. 473
4.3 State of water strategy and policy	p. 481
4.4 Future water demands	p. 505
5 Summary and conclusions	p. 511
Subject Index	p. 521

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