Surface Water and Groundwater Interaction in The Low Land Area of Parit Raja Johor from Isotope Measurement

¹ Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Johor, Malaysia
² Eco Hydro Technology Research Centre (ECO-HYTECH), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Johor, Malaysia
³ Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment & Information Technology, MAHSA University, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: ariffn@uthm.edu.my

Abstract

The groundwater and surface water were analysed for stable isotopes (¹⁸O and ²H) to assess the interaction for water protection and management in the lowland area of Parit Raja, Johor. The plotted graph on the δ²H versus δ¹⁸O shows that the compositions of the surface water are seen to be evaporated. Since the compositions of δ²H and δ¹⁸O were more depleted than the precipitation, indicating that it had a minimum influence on the surface water. In the study, the δ²H of the groundwater was between −83.66 to –36.74 for δ²H and –11.45 to –4.96 for δ¹⁸O. These groundwater compositions were depleted compared to surface water, which indicates that in this area, groundwater sources may not be linked to the surface water. Instead, this groundwater was probably old groundwater that was influenced by ancient groundwater, where the weak connectivity between these sources was due to clay layers and interrupted aquifers. Since the top clay layer also plays some role in impeding the downward movement of water, it plays a role in the recharge process. In addition, the isotopic composition of groundwater was significantly more depleted than that of rainwater, indicating that this source was highly evaporated and could have originated from the seepage of meteoric water in the past. These results were expected to be useful for a better assessment of surface water and groundwater since the interaction is critical for water protection and management.