GEDİK et al. (2026) Evaluation of groundwater drought in the Konya closed basin by examining hydrological and anthropogenic factors

Identification

• Journal: Arabian Journal of Geosciences
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-01
• Authors: Furkan GEDİK, Faize Sarış
• DOI: 10.1007/s12517-025-12399-8

Research Groups

• Department of Geography, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Türkiye.

Short Summary

This study assesses groundwater drought in the Konya Closed Basin from 1967 to 2019 using the Standardized Groundwater Level Index (SGI), finding that intensive agricultural irrigation and a surge in unlicensed wells have caused an average water level decline of 15.9 m. The research identifies the 1990s as a critical turning point where anthropogenic pressures began to systematically override natural recharge cycles, leading to persistent severe and extreme drought conditions.

Objective

• To analyze the spatial and temporal characteristics of groundwater drought across multiple time scales (seasonal to 36-month periods).
• To evaluate the impact of anthropogenic factors, specifically well density and unplanned irrigation, on the intensification of hydrological drought in a semi-arid closed basin.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional (Konya Closed Basin, Türkiye; total area of 50,029 km²), analyzed across nine sub-basins.
• Temporal Scale: Multi-decadal analysis covering 1967–2019 for drought indices and 1954–2018 for long-term water level trends.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Standardized Groundwater Level Index (SGI) for short-term (seasonal, 6, 9 months) and long-term (12, 24, 36 months) accumulation periods; Kendall’s Tau-b test for monotonic trend detection; Autocorrelation Function (ACF) to distinguish between natural recharge cycles and human-altered groundwater behavior.
• Data sources: Monthly groundwater level records from 36 representative observation wells; well registry data (licensed and unlicensed) from the State Hydraulic Works (SHW) of Türkiye.

Main Results

• Water Level Decline: The average groundwater level in the basin decreased by 15.9 m between 1954 and 2018, representing a mean annual reduction rate of 0.568 m.
• Drought Severity: Long-term drought conditions (12, 24, and 36-month series) were prevalent, with severe or extreme drought occurring in approximately 46.1% to 50.1% of the analyzed period.
• Hotspot Identification: The Beyşehir, Altınekin, and Konya-Çumra sub-basins experienced the highest rates of severe and extreme drought.
• Anthropogenic Pressure: As of 2019, the basin contained 90,019 wells, 68.8% (61,927) of which were unlicensed. Well density reached a maximum of 30.5 wells/km² in southern Konya.
• Temporal Shift: While groundwater levels were relatively stable prior to 1990, a sharp decline in SGI values and water levels was observed post-1990, coinciding with rapid well proliferation.

Contributions

• Provides the first comprehensive basin-wide quantification of groundwater drought in the Konya Closed Basin using the SGI method across multiple temporal scales.
• Establishes a direct spatial correlation between high well density (anthropogenic extraction) and the severity of hydrological drought, distinguishing these effects from purely meteorological drought patterns.
• Highlights the critical role of unlicensed wells in undermining regional water security and accelerating desertification risks in Türkiye’s most important agricultural region.

Funding

• Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit (Project No: SYL-2020-3399).

Citation

@article{GEDİK2026Evaluation,
  author = {GEDİK, Furkan and Sarış, Faize},
  title = {Evaluation of groundwater drought in the Konya closed basin by examining hydrological and anthropogenic factors},
  journal = {Arabian Journal of Geosciences},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1007/s12517-025-12399-8},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-025-12399-8}
}

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