A two-dimensional areal model for density dependent flow regime

A two-dimensional (2D) plane model of saltwater intrusion was developed, fo r the simulation of groundwater level and the average solute concentration in a 2D horizontal plane, together with the estimation of the saltwater dep th. The proposed approach is of particular interest when assessing the effe ct of different regional pumping scenarios on groundwater level and its qua lity. The corresponding MEL2DSLT code was developed on the basis of the Mod ified Eulerian-Lagrangian (MEL) method to overcome difficulties arising fro m hyperbolic behavior of flow and transport equations, due to the advective nature of solute transport and heterogeneity of the soil characteristics ( permeabilities and dispersivities). The code was verified against the 2D cr oss sectional model SUTRA and the three-dimensional (3D) model SWICHA. Simu lation was conducted concerning the problem of saltwater intrusion in the K han Yunis portion of the phreatic coastal aquifer of Gaza Strip. After cali brating the model for the aquifer parameters, we investigated its predictio ns resulting from various regional pumping scenarios using the actual pumpi ng intensity from the year 1985 and extrapolating on the basis of 3.8% annu al population growth. Results show a considerable depletion of groundwater level and intrusion of seawater due to excessive pumping.