GROUNDWATER VULNERABILITY MAPPING USING A MODIFIED-DRASTIC MODEL IN AJABSHIR PLAIN, SOUTHEAST COAST OF URMIA LAKE, IRAN

Abstract. Groundwater resources play an important role not only in providing drinking water but also in irrigation, industry and power generation. In general, groundwater is a part of the water cycle in nature that can be collected by wells, qanats, drains, or natural springs. In this research, the potential of groundwater vulnerability in Ajabshir plain, located in the Southwest of East Azerbaijan Province and Southeast of the Urmia Lake, Iran, is investigated using 7 hydrogeological parameters as well as land-use criterion. Depth to water map is provided using 26 boreholes. Twenty-seven drilling points are also used in generating aquifer media and impact of vadose zone maps. After providing and ranking all layers, they are multiplied by appropriate weights and overlaid to produce vulnerability map. Modified-DRASTIC model is applied to achieve the aim. According to the results, an approximately large part of the aquifer (29 percent), mostly located in the west of the plain, is covered with moderate vulnerability class. Spearman correlation coefficient is calculated 0.63 between the vulnerability and land use maps.