Author(s)

Khalid QAHMAN, Abdelkader LARABI, Driss OUAZAR, Ahmed NAJI, Alexander H.-D. CHENG

.

Two multi-objective management models are applied on a local area selected from the regional Gaza coastal aquifer. The objectives and constraints of these management scenarios include maximizing the total volume of water pumped, minimizing the salt concentration of the pumped water, and controlling the drawdown limits. The physical model is based on the CODESA-3D density-dependent advective-dispersive solute transport model. Genetic algorithm is used as the optimization tool. The models are tested on a part of the aquifer ( ) with 9 existing pumping wells located at various depths. The results of the optimization show that the optimization/simulation approach can give better decision if there is enough information to feed to the model. It confirms that the use of the concept of safe yield alone is not enough for sustainable develop-ment of the coastal aquifer. It shows that the optimum pumping rate is in the range of 26%–34% of the total natural replenishment. The application shows that the proposed technique is a powerful tool for solving this type of management problems.

Seawater Intrusion, Genetic Algorithm, Pumping Optimization, Density-dependent Miscible Transport

K. QAHMAN, A. LARABI, D. OUAZAR, A. NAJI and A. CHENG, "Optimal Extraction of Groundwater in Gaza Coastal Aquifer," Journal of Water Resource and Protection, Vol. 1 No. 4, 2009, pp. 249-259. doi: 10.4236/jwarp.2009.14030.