Groundwater Vulnerability to Contamination in Jordan Evaluated in Two Levels of Analysis

Abstract

Vulnerability of groundwater to contamination in Jordan was evaluated using the DRASTIC methodology. The study had two levels of analysis: (1) a DRASTIC index scale was calculated on a national scale simulating the conditions of high limitation of data and considering only the parameters of depth to groundwater (D) and net recharge (R). The results showed that the maximum value of the index in most areas of the country did not exceed 149, which corresponds to the category of moderate vulnerability. (2) A detailed application of the DRASTIC model to the Ramtha region, which has transitive climatic characteristics between the most humid zone of the country and the desert and with varied hydrogeological conditions. For this region, the DRASTIC index varied between 40 and 97, which corresponds to low vulnerability category.