Human Factors Affecting Groundwater in the Desert of Karbala Center District

Abstract

The study area is located in the southwestern part of Karbala governorate, between latitudes (32o.38’-32o.18’ in the north and longitudes (44o.17’-44o.58’) in the east, and it is a semi-high plateau with an area of ​​up to (482.82) km 2, the study area occupied the northwestern part of the Euphrates sub-region, which represents the western part of the Mesopotamia area in the stable pavement, centered within the desert surface of the Karbala governorate. The study area depends primarily on groundwater, specifically in agriculture, as it lacks surface water. Therefore, the study aimed to clarify the impact of various human factors (agricultural, industrial, municipal activity) on the characteristics of groundwater and the degree of this effect on the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the aquifer (Al-Dibdibba) within the desert flat of the study area. Where the factor of agricultural activity had an impact on groundwater through the amount of water withdrawn from wells to irrigate crops and the extent of its impact on the (strategic) underground storage, as well as the effect of fertilizers (organic, chemical) and pesticides on the qualitative characteristics of the water of that reservoir. As for the factor of industrial activity, it was the impact on groundwater appeared through the number of pollutants emitted from industrial activities, as well as the role of these activities in the decline in the area of ​​agricultural land in the study area and its replacement with industrial establishments within the sector (public, private). As for the municipal factor, its impact on groundwater was through municipal activities represented in the amount of waste and waste prevalent in the study area and the resulting solid and liquid pollutants that pose a threat to the quality of groundwater after filtering to the level of that water.