Investigation of sustainable development potential for Ulubey Aquifer System, Turkey

Abstract. This study investigates sustainable development potential for Ulubey aquifer system which serves as an important water supply for Usak province (Turkey). In recent years, growing population, accelerating industrial activities and decreasing rainfall, as well as contamination of the surface water resources, made groundwater indispensable to meet the freshwater demands of Usak province. Therefore, a sustainable groundwater development plan has to be set up by determining the sustainable yield of the system, which is the aim of this study. To achieve this goal, a mathematical groundwater flow model is constructed in order to test the alternative development scenarios. Results show that the system preserves equilibrium conditions under present stresses. The future effects of possible increases in stresses are also simulated and based on the dynamic responses of the system to changing stresses; sustainable yield and sustainable pumping rate of the aquifer are determined and compared with the safe yield of the system.