Groundwater Vulnerability Modeling to Assess Seawater Intrusion: a Methodological Comparison with Geospatial Interpolation

Seawater intrusion has become a growing threat in coastal urban cities due to overexploitation of groundwater. This study examines the accuracy of the commonly used geospatial quality assessment models (GQA) and groundwater vulnerability assessment models (GVA) in determining the extent of seawater intrusion in urban coastal aquifers. For that purpose, interpolation methods (kriging, IDW and co-kriging) and vulnerability assessment models (DRASTIC, EPIK) were compared using groundwater salinity criteria (TDS, Cl−) collected at three pilot areas along the eastern Mediterranean (Beirut, Tripoli, Jal el Dib). The results showed that while the GIS-based interpolation methods and the vulnerability assessment models captured elements of the groundwater quality deterioration, both had a limited ability to accurately delineate saltwater intrusion. This emphasizes that while interpolation methods and conventional vulnerability models may give general information about groundwater quality, they fail to capture the status of the aquifer at a finer spatial resolution.