Assessing and Mapping of Groundwater Vulnerability to Contamination Using the Protective Cover and Infiltration Conditions (PI) Method for the West Bank/ Palestine

Groundwater resources, especially from karst aquifers, provide vital freshwater supplies for Palestinians. Both, quantity and quality stresses on groundwater have increased in the past decades to a level that poses a contamination threat to drinking water sources due to human exploitation. Optimal protection and management of groundwater resources in karst aquifers is a priority and a goal in the developed and developing countries. Protection of groundwater starts with the evaluation of the sensitivity of its environment. This thesis attempts to produce a groundwater vulnerability map for the West Bank, which is intended to highlight the areas of greatest potential for groundwater contamination on the basis of hydro-geological conditions. The research uses a GIS-based approach called the PI method, which takes into consideration the nature of karst aquifers. Inherent geological, hydrological, hydrogeological, climatological and vegetation data, in terms of thematic layers, were collected and used in the creation of the groundwater vulnerability map of the West Bank. The results obtained from this study indicate that about 47% of the West Bank is under extreme to high groundwater vulnerability, 32% is under moderate vulnerability and 21% is under low to very low vulnerability.