Forecast of the Water-Salt Regime of Groundwater in the Ganja-Kazakh Massif

The Ganja-Kazakh foothill plain is located in the Kura megasynclinorium, between the Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus meganticlinorium. The hydrogeological conditions of the plain are complex and varied. The Ganja plain has a dense hydrographic network. Water complexes are found in various stratigraphic sections. Regarding genetic types, infiltration-fractured, infiltration-vein, infiltration-porous, and sedimentary groundwater formations occur in the Ganja-Kazakh massif. The latter are widespread in the plain area. Groundwater is found throughout the Ganja-Kazakh plain. The main sources of groundwater recharge are river waters, irrigation waters, and precipitation. The depth of groundwater varies, reaching up to 90 meters in the foothill zones. Towards the Kura River, the depth decreases, and in the zone near the Kura River, the groundwater depth does not exceed 3 meters. In the Ganja-Kazakh foothill plain, continental deposits of the Quaternary period are present in the river alluvial cones. The materials transitioning from the foothill zone to the plain are replaced by clay and silty deposits, in which the groundwater is under pressure. The alluvial cones of the rivers passing through the area are one of the main natural factors for characterizing the hydrogeo-logical conditions of the region. In general, in the Ganja plain, groundwater developed in Neogene-Quaternary period deposits and four pressurized water horizons have been studied. These water horizons are conditionally separated, and there is hydraulic communication between them. In the formation of the hydrogeological-meliorative situation, the elements of the water-salt balance play a key role. These include precipitation, irrigation, rivers, underground artesian waters, incoming and outgoing groundwater, evaporation, and condensation waters. In the Ganja-Kazakh massif, 58% of the total area of 310,000 hectares is used for irrigation. To provide water for these lands, large reservoirs and irrigation canals of various orders were constructed. As a result of these measures, the groundwater level rises annually at a rate of 13-15 cm per year. To reduce the rate of groundwater rise, the projects proposed the construction of collector-drainage systems and the use of drainage water, provided it meets acceptable quality standards, for various purposes of the national economy, particularly for irrigation and flushing of salinized lands located between the Kur and Injechay rivers. To determine the volume and quality of drainage water, it is necessary to forecast the water-salt regime of groundwater. The present study demon- strates this on the example of the Ganja-Kazakh massif.