Hydrogeological Analysis of the Alluvial Valley in the Middle Chelif Region of Algeria: Spatial Distribution of Equivalent Conductivity and Equivalent Transmissivity

The Middle Chelif region in Algeria, characterized by its ancient and fertile landscape, encompasses 75 km rectangular plain covering 362,600 hectares and is the site of the highest volumes of running water in northern Algeria, significantly supporting local agriculture. This study aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of equivalent conductivity and transmissivity within the alluvial valley, focusing on the basin from Oum El Drou to Boukadir. Utilizing geoelectric sections from a 1972 survey conducted by the General Company of Geophysics (CGG) and obtained from the National Agency for Hydraulic Resources (ANRH), data processing involved Jupyter Notebook with the geopandas package, QGIS for visualization, and ordinary kriging using SAGA GIS. The methodology included printing geoelectric sections, estimating hydraulic conductivities, calculating equivalent hydraulic conductivities and transmissivities at sampling points, and employing ordinary kriging for spatial distribution mapping. The findings revealed that equivalent permeabilities and transmissivities are influenced by the geological layers' properties and thicknesses, including alluvium of the major bed, clay-silty alluvium, pebbles, and limestone shells, Villafranchian clays and silts, and Astian sandstones. These insights enhance our understanding of groundwater flow characteristics and inform effective management strategies for water resources in the region.