Degradation of springs in the arava valley: Anthropogenic and climatic factors

H. J. Bruins, Z. Sherzer, H. Ginat, S. Batarseh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Groundwater pumping in the hyper-arid Arava Valley began in 1936 for industrial use, south of the Dead Sea, and since 1949 for domestic and agricultural use with the establishment of Eilat. Pumping gradually increased with the founding of 19 rural villages throughout the Arava Valley. Groundwater levels dropped as a result, and springs in the Arava Valley began to deteriorate. Their status had not been studied for decades, and we conducted comprehensive fieldwork of virtually all the known springs on the Israeli side of the Arava Valley, 31 springs, within the period 2008-2010. Our objectives were (i) to determine the current condition of each spring, (ii) to study spring deterioration through time in relation to historical data and (iii) to evaluate anthropogenic and climatic factors through time. Our results reveal that only 13 springs discharged water on the landscape surface and 18 springs were found dry. Detailed evaluations and time-series analyses are presented for the springs: 'Ein Tamar, 'Ein Mashak, 'Ein Evrona and 'Ein Netafim, selected on the basis of geodiversity. Climatic trends in the region were studied using the novel P/PET aridity index (P=annual precipitation, PET=annual potential evapotranspiration). We calculated yearly P/PET values since 1970 for five meteorological stations in Israel and six stations in Jordan. All stations, without exception, show a negative downward trend toward increasing aridity, often with significant p values (below 0·10). The change to a drier climate in the region should be considered as an important factor regarding sustainable groundwater management in the Arava Valley.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)365-383
Number of pages19
JournalLand Degradation and Development
Volume23
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2012

Keywords

  • Anthropogenic impact
  • Arava Valley
  • Climatic impact
  • Groundwater pumping
  • Increasing aridity
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Spring degradation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Development
  • General Environmental Science
  • Soil Science

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