Hydrogeological Assessment of The Aquifers in Kirkuk City, Iraq

AbstractGroundwater has been considered one of the most important sources of water for agricultural, household, and industrial operations in the Kirkuk city. The current study intends to investigate groundwater storage and estimate the hydraulic characteristics of the primary aquifers within the study area. Pumping tests were carried out in (5) water wells using the main observation wells dug in the Bai-Hassan formation and Quaternary deposit. The aquifer types are confined to semi-confined and unconfined based on the diagrams of the drilling wells and the results of the hydraulic characteristics. The saturation thickness of the studied aquifers ranges from 22 to 66 m. The hydraulic conductivity values varied from (19.29 to 70.79 m/d), while the highest transitivity value is 1758.58 m2/day. The storage coefficient values were ranged between (0.0002059 - 0.074). The flow net map was generated by monitoring groundwater depths from 22 wells drilled within the region of interest. The water table depths range from (1.5 m) to (31 m) below the ground surface. According to the groundwater flow map, groundwater in the region flows mostly from the north and northeast to the southwest and moves parallel to the Kassa River.