Sustainability of Groundwater Resources and its Indicators (Proceedings of symposium S3 held during the Seventh IAHS Scientific Assembly at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, April 2005). IAHS Publ. 302, 2006. 147 Using geoinformatics to estimate nitrate leaching to groundwater in the Azraq Basin in Jordan due to human activities SERWAN M. J. BABAN 1 , IAN FOSTER 2 & RIDA AL-ADAMAT 3 1 CLEAR, The Office of Research, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, West Indies sbaban2001@yahoo.com 2 Geography, School of Science and the Environment, Coventry University, Priory Road, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK 3 Jordan Badia Research and Development Programme, Safawi, Mafraq, Jordan Abstract During the 20th century, the Bedu’s environment was fragmented to form parts of Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. This process has restricted their nomadic way of life. In Jordan, the Bedu were encouraged to settle in newly built towns on the edge of the desert and to exercise irrigated agriculture. Groundwater contamination has recently been recognized as a problem in Jordan. This paper attempts to estimate nitrate leaching to groundwater in part of the Azraq Basin using Geoinformatics. Data were gathered from fieldwork, secondary sources and remote sensing. GIS was used to estimate nitrate leaching to groundwater from cesspools and agriculture. Estimated leaching from cesspools ranged from approx. 800 to 1990 kg year -1 (approx. 0.3 to 0.7 kg per household per year). The estimated loss from agricultural land was from approx. 222 600 to 358 800 kg year -1 . In Jordan, water resources are scarce and are being degraded, while the demand for water use is increasing. This study indicates the urgent need to manage the expansion of agriculture in the region. Key words Azraq Basin, Jordan; cesspools; geoinformatics; groundwater; nitrate leaching INTRODUCTION For centuries, the nomadic people of Arab descent, the Bedu, dominated the Middle East desert, The Badia. The Bedu were practically self-sufficient and were reliant on wild natural grass for animal feed. The Bedu survived the hostile environment by migrating to find pastures and water for their herds of camels, sheep and goats in the Badia region, which now forms part of Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia (Al-Oun, 2001; Baban et. al, 2003). The geographical division of Arabia into small states, particularly since the end of the First World War, resulted in the Bedu being separated from their land and other Bedu populations (Fig. 1) (Al-Rabia, 1974). Restrictions on movement have since played a key role in the decline of pastoral nomadism in the region. Consequently, the pressure on the environment and its resources has intensified in many parts of the Badia as traditional nomadic people have settled in small towns and villages (Baban et al., 2003). The study area is located in the northern part of the Azraq Basin, Jordan, which lies within the basalt aquifer (Fig. 1). The area under investigation covers 867.4 km 2 , which comprises around 18% of the total basalt aquifer area. This area was settled in the early 1990s by approx. 14 300 inhabitants who lived