Salinity problem of groundwater in the Wadi Tharad Basin, Saudi Arabia

In Wadi Tharad the groundwater has been subjected to hydrochemical study to identify the process (s) that led to the formation of relatively highly saline water in shallow alluvial aquifer. The chemical analyses results show that the groundwater salinity was highly variable and randomly distributed along the wadi course. This variation could be attributed to intensive evaporation on effluent prone surface irrigation water that led to precipitation of evaporates (e.g., calcite, dolomite, gypsum and probably halite). The intensive irrigation practice through mineral dissolution recharged the groundwater with a marked increase in the salinity. The local hydrogeological condition is also involved in determining the risk of the groundwater salinity as a consequence of irrigation practice. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.