MODFLOW Modeling to Solve Drainage Problems in the Argaman Date Palm Orchard, Jordan Valley, Israel
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 8
Abstract
Overwetting and soil salinization processes are common in irrigated date palm orchards in Israel. Subsurface drainage systems are generally used to overcome soil salinity. Subsurface drainage models can contribute to the selection of a proper drainage system and its proper placement in the field. In this paper, the groundwater flow modeling program MODFLOW was used to simulate groundwater levels in a date palm orchard in Argaman, in the Jordan Valley, Israel. Using a three-layer groundwater flow model, the most efficient drainage system was a combination of 4.5-m depth primary drains and 3-m depth drains of different lengths installed at a different spacing between drains. Installation of this drainage system would cost approximately NIS$2.6 million, i.e., 30% less than the initially proposed project. Given certain input, a spatially distributed groundwater flow model such as MODFLOW can provide more reliable information than different analytical solutions for planning an effective subsurface drainage system.
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Acknowledgments
This paper was supported by the Jordan Valley Water Cooperative Society. The writer particularly thanks engineers Yoram Tur-Zion and Asaf Tur-Zion, who prepared much of the model input data in GIS and conducted the measurements in the observation wells, in addition to Moshe Gottesman, Shaheen Aweinat, Roee Ben-Benyamin, Efraim Fizik, and Yosi Bar, the technicians at the Soil Erosion Research Station, for their assistance in the field investigations. The writer also thanks agronomist Jacob Ben-Ami for providing data on groundwater levels in the Mechora area of the orchard.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 8 • August 2013
Pages: 612 - 624
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 11, 2011
Accepted: Feb 5, 2013
Published online: Feb 7, 2013
Discussion open until: Jul 7, 2013
Published in print: Aug 1, 2013
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