JOURNAL OF MINING SCIENCE, cilt.58, sa.2, ss.309-324, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
The main objectives of this study are to determine the highly productive aquifer zones using the
GIS-integrated vulnerability technique and to assess the protection of these productive zones from the
pollution sources such as industrial and residential areas nearby a river system. This study was performed in
Kucuk Menderes River Basin (KMRB) located in the western part of Turkey, which has a significant
groundwater potential and includes highly productive agricultural land and some of the largest industrial
establishments. According to the results, the western part of the study area has notably high aquifer potential
used by industrial and residential areas, whereas the eastern part of the study area has lower aquifer potential
used by productive agricultural land. However, urbanization and industrial areas are expanding in high
groundwater potential zones. It means that regional water resources will be at great risk in terms of quantity
and quality. Therefore, this study is aimed in assisting both the determination of protection zones in the
main aquifer system and to help planning the future site selection of land use for the river basin.