MODFLOW Application for Exploitable Groundwater Resource Assessment of the Zhem Artesian Basin Aquifer Complex, Kazakhstan
Sapargaliyev D.S. Murtazin Y.Z. Mirlas V. Smolyar V.A. Anker Y.
May 2025Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
2025#15Issue 10
Groundwater resources are becoming increasingly scarce, especially in arid regions of western Kazakhstan. By 2070, the domestic and drinking water demands will increase from 640 to 901 thousand m3/day. This deficiency may be overcome by utilizing the Zhem Artesian Basin’s Cretaceous Albian–Cenomanian aquifer complex. The hydrodynamic interactions between the 123 known aquifer segments and recharge zones of these promising, exploitable, high-quality groundwater sources are unclear. While MODFLOW is a nominal platform for groundwater flow assessment, which is usually used for the simulation of simple hydrological scenarios, in this study, integrating several different scales and functional modules over a GIS platform enabled delineation and the forecast of this multi-layer aquifer complex. The MODFLOW simulation assessed exploitable groundwater resources and reservoir interactions, enabling the establishment of a simultaneous operation to the Zhem aquifer complex and its neighboring reservoirs. The model suggests that the total exploitable groundwater resources may grow to 629.4 thousand m3/day during the next 50 years. The simultaneous drawdown model suggests a water level decrease of up to 80 m at the end of this period, which will cause a river flow reduction of approximately 6% of the average long-term river flow. Thus, the assessed exploitable groundwater resources will cover more than 70% of the future regional water demand. The mathematical model developed may be used for monitoring and forecasting groundwater head and water balance changes and may be applied to attain a more detailed groundwater resource transfer scheme with economic criteria.
exploitable groundwater resources , groundwater withdrawal , MODFLOW model , numerical modeling , permissible head drawdown , Zhem Artesian Basin
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Institute of Hydrogeology and Geoecology Named After U.M. Ahmedsafin, Satbayev University, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Department of Water, Oil and Gas Resources and Geo-Risks, Kyrgyz State Technical University Named After I. Razzakov, Bishkek, 720044, Kyrgyzstan
Department of Chemical Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel, 40600, Israel
Department of Environmental Research, Eastern R&D Center, Ariel, 40600, Israel
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Group, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 3010, VIC, Australia
Institute of Hydrogeology and Geoecology Named After U.M. Ahmedsafin
Department of Water
Department of Chemical Engineering
Department of Environmental Research
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Group
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