Environmental sensitivity and risk assessment in the Saharan Tunisian oasis agro-systems using the deepest water table source for irrigation: water quality and land management impacts

Latifa Dhaouadi (), Houda Besser, Nissaf Karbout, Rabeb Khaldi, Zied Haj-Amor, Sihem Maachia and Fatma Ouassar
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Latifa Dhaouadi: Regional Resources Center for Oasis Agriculture, Carthage University
Houda Besser: High Institutes of Sciences and Techniques of Water
Nissaf Karbout: Institutes of Arid Areas
Rabeb Khaldi: Regional Resources Center for Oasis Agriculture, Carthage University
Zied Haj-Amor: Laboratory of Water, Energy and Environment
Sihem Maachia: Regional Resources Center for Oasis Agriculture, Carthage University
Fatma Ouassar: High Institutes of Sciences and Techniques of Water

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2022, vol. 24, issue 9, No 9, 10695-10727

Abstract: Abstract In dry-hot areas, such as southern Tunisia, the availability of good water is very limited by the low scanty rainfall, the long dry periods and the high evaporation rate. Thus, to deal with these issues, information concerning the quality of irrigation water and the variability of groundwater quality across the oasis system from water well to the final runoff released into the natural environment, is required to evaluate the potential impacts on agricultural soil fertility and to assess the effects of land-use and agricultural practices in environmental conservation and natural resources exploitation. In the current study, 28 water samples have been collected from public wells along the irrigation scheme and drainage canals and have been analyzed. The obtained data prove that groundwater has large spatial variability (EC between 2.93 and 10.05 ms/cm and TDS between 1.95 and 8.15 g/L) caused by different influencing factors such as aquifer water quality, overexploitation, distribution system and evaporation processes. According to the used ionic ratios (SAR, KR, PI, MH, TH, SSP, ESP, etc..), the used waters are locally of permissible quality, while the majority fall unsuitable class to be used in irrigation with a maximum SAR of 18 at El Hamma region. The findings indicate that, besides the severe restrictions required for the use of these high mineralized resources, CI water quality shows a slight variability along irrigation scheme, which may provide additive water resources that may be reused in agriculture, the runoff released into the environment and the excess of irrigation water lost to evaporation process. The evaluation of chemical quality of drainage water may provide a scientific basis for the reuse of these waters to more efficient land management aiming to the sustainable development of oasis agriculture and the prevention of land degradation.

Keywords: Irrigation water quality; Environmental sensitivity; Salinization; Land management; Tunisian Saharan oasis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-021-01878-z

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