Revista de ecosistemas y ecografía

Abstracto

Mathematical Modeling of Bara Groundwater System Central Sudan

K.M. Kheiralla, M.M. Mergani, N.E. Mohamed and M.Y. Abdelgalil

Groundwater has proved to be a major resource in Northern Kordofan State (NKS) in the development plans of water supply, irrigation as well as industrial sectors. Drinking water supply in the state relies on groundwater for more than 65% of the total consumption. In Bara Basin, the Cretaceous sediments extend underlying the Umm Ruwaba sediments, which are tapped by Abu Tenetin and Umm Sayala boreholes at the northern periphery of the Bara Basin (RRI, 1990). The main purpose of the modeling exercise was to assess the potential of the aquifer to satisfy the Bara well field needs. This designed model has predicted the possible drawdown for 25 years due to planned groundwater development in the project area. Other specific objectives were achieved such as: water balance calculation of the Bara basin (i.e. recharge from rainfall, leakage between upper, middle and lower aquifers, flow across the boundaries of the aquifers, water released from storage in the main aquifer due to heavy pumping), in addition to the prediction of the reactions of the hydraulic system due to groundwater withdrawal, and final determination of the safe yield of the basin.