Maged El OSTA¹ & Milad MASOUD^*2
1Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Damanhour University, Egypt *Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, Libya Tel: +2 01005657976, Email: drmagedelosta.edu.alex@hotmail.com
²Hydrology Department, Desert Research Centre, El Matarya, Cairo, Egypt *Water Research Centre – King Abdulaziz University – Jeddah – Saudi Arabia Tel: +96 6563857354 Email: zakimilad@hotmail.com

GROUNDWATER POTENTIAL IN THE CENTRAL PART OF AL JABAL AL AKHDAR AREA, NE LIBYA

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Al Jabal Al Akhdar located in the North-Eastern part of Libya represents a region with promising ecological underpinning for grazing and other agricultural developments. In its central part, groundwater in the karstified Eocene and Upper Cretaceous limestone aquifer is the main source of water for drinking, agriculture, and grazing. The groundwater potential was studied based on the available literature and inquiries to water institutions in Libya, with responsibility to identify and classify the main water resources and preview their status to highlight the major issues regarding water resources management and their sustainability. Furthermore, a complete database for about 112 water wells drilled in the period 2003 - 2009 was used for the evaluation of the two aquifers. In this research, the hydrogeological and the Geographic Information System (GIS) were used to investigate the spatial characteristics of the groundwater system. The results indicate that the depth to water for the Upper Cretaceous aquifer ranges from 150 to 458 m, and the piezometric surface decreases from over 500 m (m.s.l) in the northern parts of the study area to -20 m (m.s.l) in southeastern part. Salinity ranges between 303 and 1329 mg/l indicating that groundwater belongs to the fresh - slightly fresh water class. In the Eocene aquifer, the depth to groundwater ranges from 120 to 290.5 m and the potentiometric level decreases gradually southwards from 220 m (m.s.l) to -51 m (m.s.l) and characterized by steep slope in the southeastern part of the study area, where the aquifer characterized by relatively high productivity (specific capacity ranges between 10.08 and 332.3 m²/day). The groundwater salinity within this aquifer ranges between 198 and 2800 mg/l (fresh to brackish water class). The annual average rainfall (from 280 to 500 mm) plays a significant role in the recharge of the two aquifers. The priority of groundwater quality and potentiality increases towards the central and northern portions of the concerned area.