Assessing Surface Water Quality Using Risk Indicators, Geographic Information System Modeling Techniques, and Multi-Statistical Methods in Arid Regions to Maintain the Sustainability of Water Resources

Assessing the water quality of surface water bodies is one of the primary duties of environmental authorities in charge of water management. Irrigation water quality (IWQ) of the irrigation canals in the middle Nile delta, Egypt, was assessed by GIS-based research of water suitability indicators (risks connected with salinity, permeability, ion toxicity, and other factors on delicate crops), utilizing a thorough examination of 27 samples gathered from the irrigation canals surrounding the Kitchener drain Egypt, based on thirteen chemical characteristics in 2023. The maps in this work were created with ArcGIS version 10.7. A procedure known as Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) was used to show the variations in the concentrations of the different heavy metals and to offer a geographic representation of the water quality. We utilized principal component analysis (PCA) to pinpoint potential sources of heavy metals. To assess soil contamination levels in the study area, various methods were used such as contamination factors (CFs), heavy metal pollution index (HPI), ecological risks index (ERI), pollution load index (PLI), and the modified degree of contamination (mCd) for seven targeted metals: As, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. The findings showed that every sample had a medium irrigation appropriateness rating as the IWQI values range from 25.43 to 34.50. According to the different contamination indices, the study area is suffering high contamination as the mean values of HPI, ERI, PLI, and MCd are 3570.26 ± 621.40, 804.62 ± 164.88, 6.62 ± 6.06, and 5.10 ± 0.89, respectively. PCA results revealed significant metal contamination in multiple enterprises showing that they are present simultaneously and may have a common source. This source could be an industrial discharge, agricultural runoff or other process that affects the metals’ concentrations in surface water. These results give decision-makers important information for managing surface water resources and encouraging sustainable water management in the research region. By educating the local community about artificial groundwater recharge, rainwater collection, and surface water canal management, government authorities can gradually lessen the potential effects of poor water quality in these areas. It is also recommended to develop a risk management module that can assess water threats for agricultural and public health applications. The ultimate goal is to incorporate this descriptive and sensitive research into a risk management system that can generate quick reports for policymakers and decision-makers.