Evaluation and Mapping Groundwater Suitability for Irrigation Using GIS in Najaf Governorate, Iraq

Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI) for groundwater within the Geographic Information System(GIS) environment is proposed so that it can be used in assessing the groundwater vulnerability. Themodel was applied to the Damman aquifer in the western part of Iraq. Thirty nine sites were chosen forthe investigation of the Damman aquifer. Triplicate ground water samples were collected from eachsite (during wet and dry seasons of 2013). Variables tested in each sample include: pH, EC, totalhardness Ca+2, Mg+2, Cl-, Na+ and SAR. The final water quality map constructed for the aquifershowed that there are three major regions. The first is in the northeastern part of the area while thesecond region is confined to the southeastern part. Finally, the third region extended along the westernpart of the study area. When this map was converted according to the suggested model, it showed thatthe water quality of the Damman aquifer is marginal for use for agriculture purposes.JournalValiderad; 2014; 20141118 (nadhir