Groundwater Model as a Tool for Sustainable Groundwater Management

Groundwater could be regarded as a vital water resource due to its high quality and perennial availability. However, lack of sustainable approach in groundwater management has induced a negative impact as evidenced by falling water tables, drying wetlands, increasing sea-water intrusion and deterioration of water quality. As groundwater cannot be renewed artificially on a large scale, sustainable management of this resource is vital. A number of scientific tools was applied for a number of applications such as assisting stakeholder in making decision, groundwater flow model, particle tracking and many more. In this paper, Semarang Urban Area case study will be used as example in illustrates the uses of groundwater modeling in achieving sustainable groundwater management. Three scenarios will be used to demonstrate the application of groundwater flow such as (i) interaction between surface water and groundwater, (ii) groundwater abstraction, and (iii) seawater intrusion. All the scenarios discussed with the aim to promote the advantages of groundwater modeling.