Water Level Response for Over Extraction in Western Parts of Al-Jafer Basin (Jordan)
Suhail Sharadqah

Abstract
The study area covers the western part of Al-Jafer Basin, which enjoys a Mediterranean climate. The major aquifer in the study area (A7B2) is mostly unconfined, and the recharge rate is the highest within the basin. In this rural agricultural area, irrigated agriculture has increased to cover more than two thousand hectares over the last 25 years. This increase has been accompanied by an increasing agricultural ground-water withdrawal. This is attributed to the fact that rainfall in the region is insufficient to support the introduced crops. Because abstractions have greatly exceeded aquifer recharge, the water table has declined considerably. Using ArcGIS Algebra maps to compare between potentiometric map from predevelopment time with ground water level at the end of 2012, results have shown that water-level decline up to 165 meters. The analysis of abstraction data shows that agriculture is not solely responsible, even though private irrigation abstractions have removed at least two times the amount abstracted by government wells. Interpolating the available water level data shows that the geological structure conditions don’t facilitate groundwater movements between geological blocks, where the main faults act as barriers. The historical data about spring discharge shows that except on spring all others become dry or suffer severe decrease in discharge.

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