Assessment of vulnerability and risk mapping in a karst watershed using combination of VESPA & EPIK indices

Document Type : Research paper

Authors

1 Master of Water Resources Engineering, Civil Engineering Department, Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Water Engineering, College of Aburaihan, University of Tehran, Pakdasht, Iran

10.22034/hydro.2022.12227

Abstract

Exploitation of karst water resources has become very important due to supply and demand tensions and water shortage problems. Utilization of these resources without management and planning causes severe pollution. One of the important tools for this issue is the use of vulnerability indicators and determining the degree of risk of exploiting it. In this study, the dependence of spring appearance as the output of karst catchment and its catchment is investigated by combining vulnerability indicators. VESPA is one of the most important methods to calculate spring’s vulnerability using effective parameters such as salinity, discharge and water temperature. Moreover, in this study we applied EPIK method to assess vulnerability of karst watershed. Then, by ranking the effective parameters and combining it with the vulnerability index, it determines the level of risk in the basin. Accordingly, Perikdan and Sarabtaveh springs are in a very high class in terms of vulnerability with VESPA index and have a high correlation with EPIK index in assessing the vulnerability of the catchment basin. After determining the vulnerability, the risk of exploitation was determined by ranking the slope parameters, geological formations, natural features and land use. The results showed that the highest risk rate of 74% is located in the southern parts of the region. This area has a large number of sinkholes and permeable karst formations. By combining the risk map and vulnerability index, the risk of the basin was assessed, which showed that about 90% of the basin is in medium and low risk.

Keywords

References

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Hydrogeology
Volume 7, Issue 1
Publisher
September 2022
Pages 151-164

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