Simulation of saltwater intrusion in alluvial aquifer at Kg. Tekek, Tioman Island

Abstract

Tioman Island, which is situated in the southeast of Pahang State, is one of the small islands in Malaysia that have been promoted as a tourist destination. Previous studies have shown that, the supply from surface water is limited and fluctuated seasonally. Therefore, it is necessary and urgently a need to identify new water resources to meet the growing demand due to both local population and tourism industry to prevent serious water crisis by the year 2025. The alternative source, to supplement surface water will be the groundwater. The development and management of fresh groundwater resources in coastal aquifers are seriously constrained by the presence of saltwater intrusion. There exists a need to study systematically the causes and remedial measures for saltwater intrusion due to withdrawal of groundwater. This study presents the simulation of two numerical models for saltwater intrusion in Kg. Tekek, Tioman Island through Saturated-Unsaturated TRAnsport (SUTRA) model to simulate the groundwater flow based on the available data. The simulation model used in this work has assumed homogeneous aquifer properties. The study also concentrates on the saltwater intrusion due to pumping activities at different mode of pumping rate under unsteady state condition. The results of this study highlight the effects of pumping on saltwater intrusion where less pumping and high recharge rate in the aquifer can reduce saltwater intrusion effectively.