EVALUATION OF WATER AND SALT BALANCE IN HARRAN PLAIN OF SOUTHEAST-TURKEY, USING WASIM MODEL

Water simulation (WaSim), was assessed for its capability to predict ground water table behavior for free and controlled drained conditions under semi-arid climate conditions of Harran plain of Southeast Turkey. WaSim is an one-dimensional soil water balance model capable of predicting ground water table properties as drainage discharge, soil salinity and drainage effluent quality. Under drained conditions, similar results were obtained in terms of the measured and simulated values of water table depth, soil salinity and drainage effluent quality. Deviations between simulated and observed values for amounts of drain discharge and discharge water quality was statistically significant. Though no significant differences were observed in terms of the water table depths, topsoil and root zone salinity. Evaluating the experimental data it was concluded that the model simulations can be used successfully.