Abstract
Due to the growing water demand, especially for the agricultural development, the water management in the Grombalia region (NE Tunisia) exploits multiple sources of water. Rainfall is marked by a strong seasonal and interannual variability in time and over space. The regional aquifer has been intensively used for irrigation. Artificial groundwater recharge has been initiated in 1975, in order to reduce the piezometric depletion. It is fed by an important surface water transfer from the North-West of Tunisian since 1984 and by 3 local dams. As a consequence, the Grombalia aquifer system has undergone multiple hydrodynamic and hydrochemical changes, affecting it deeply during the last decades. This study investigates their consequences on the groundwater quantity and quality. In this context, a multi-tracer approach was carried out in the Grombalia basin, based on 4 field visits between March 2013 and April 2015. The recent piezometric decline varying between 0 and −18 m in the upstream part of the aquifer is due to the intense groundwater pumping. Conversely, a water level rise in the central and downstream parts is explained by the excess irrigation return flow: since 1992, the groundwater has risen of up to 2 m. The waterlogging creates many agricultural, environmental and economic problems because of the suffocation of plants. An increase in groundwater salinity is the consequence of agriculture intensification in the Grombalia basin.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ben Haj Ali M, Jedoui Y, Dali T, Ben Salem H, Memmi L (1985) Carte géologique de la Tunisie au 1/500.000. Office National des Mines, Service Géologique National, Tunis
Ben Moussa A, Zouari K, Oueslati N (2009) Geochemical study of groundwater mineralization in the Grombalia shallow aquifer, north-eastern Tunisia: implication of irrigation and industrial waste water accounting. Environ Geol 58:555–566
Ben Moussa, A, Bel Haj Salem, S, Zouari, K, Jlassi, F (2010) Hydrochemical and isotopic investigation of the groundwater composition of an alluvial aquifer, Cap Bon Peninsula, Tunisia. Carbonates Evaporites 25:161–176
Charfi S, Zouari K, Feki S, Mamic E (2013) Study of variation in groundwater quality in a coastal aquifer in north-eastern Tunisia using multivariate factor analysis. Quatern Int 302:199–209
Chenini I, Zghibi A, Kouzana L (2015) Hydrogeological investigations and groundwater vulnerability assessment and mapping for groundwater resource protection and management: state of the art and a case study. J Afr Earth Sci 109:11–26
Chihi L (1995) Les fossés néogènes à quaternaires de la Tunisie et de la Mer pélagienne : leur étude structurale et leur signification dans le cadre géodynamique de la méditerranée centrale. Thesis of “Doctorat d’Etat”, University of Tunis II, Tunisia
Clark ID, Fritz P (1997) Environmental isotopes in hydrogeology. Lewis, New York
Gaaloul N, Candela L, Chebil A, Soussi A, Tamoh K (2014) Groundwater flow simulation at the Grombalia phreatic aquifer (Cap Bon, Northeastern Tunisia). Desalination Water Treat 52:10–12
Hadj Sassi M, Zouari H, Jallouli C (2006) Contribution de la gravimétrie et de la sismique réfléxion pour une nouvelle interprétation géodynamique des fossés d’effondrement en Tunisie: exemple du fossé de Grombalia. Comptes Rendus Géoscience 338:751–756
Lachaal F, Chekirbane A, Mlayah A, Hjiri B, Tarhouni J (2014) A multi-tracer approach to understand the hydrogeochemical functioning of a coastal aquifer located in NE Tunisia. IAHS Publ 363:191–196
Lachaal F, Chekirbane A, Chargui S, Sellami H, Tsujimura M, Hezzi H, Faycel J, Mlayah A (2016) Water resources management strategies and its implications on hydrodynamic and hydrochemical changes of costal groundwater: case of Grombalia shallow aquifer, NE Tunisia. J Afr Earth Sci 124:171–188
Mzali H, Harbi A, Alyahyaoui S (2016) Geometry characterization and depth determination of deep water reservoirs: the case of the Jebel Sidi Abd Er Rahmane region (Cap Bon, northeastern Tunisia). Arab J Geosci 9:295
Palazzo A, Brozovic N (2014) The role of groundwater trading in spatial water management. Agric Water Manag 145:50–60
Re V, Sacchi E, Kammoun S, Tringali C, Trabelsi R, Zouari K, Daniele S (2017) Integrated socio-hydrogeological approach to tackle nitrate contamination in groundwater resources. The case of Grombalia Basin (Tunisia). Sci Total Environ 593:664–676
Tlili-Zrelli B, hamzaoui-Azaza F, Gueddari M, Bouhlila R (2013) Geochemistry and quality assessment of groundwater using graphical and multivariate statistical methods. A case study: Grombalia phreatic aquifer (Northeastern Tunisia). Arab J Geosci 6:3545–3561
Tringali C, Re V, Siciliano G, Chkir N, Tuci C. Zouari K (2017) Insights and participatory actions driven by a socio-hydrogeological approach for groundwater management: the Grombalia Basin case study (Tunisia). Hydrogeol J 1–15
Wu X, Zheng Y, Wu B, Tian Y, Han F, Zheng C (2016) Optimizing conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater for irrigation to address human-nature water conflicts: A surrogate modeling approach. Agric Water Manag 163:380–392
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lachaal, F. et al. (2018). Impacts of Global Changes on Groundwater Resources in North-East Tunisia: The Case of the Grombalia Phreatic Aquifer. In: Calvache, M., Duque, C., Pulido-Velazquez, D. (eds) Groundwater and Global Change in the Western Mediterranean Area. Environmental Earth Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69356-9_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69356-9_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69355-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69356-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)