Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, cilt.29, sa.5, ss.3764-3777, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
Together with earth and air, water is one of the most vital sources. The need for drinking, potable and irrigation water is increasing day by day, with the increase in population and expansion of the settlement areas. Only 0.03 of the total water resources on earth is fresh water and 0.75 of the fresh water resources are in the glaciers and in the form of permanent snow. Turkey is not in the region receiving direct precipitation due to its geographical location and it is among the countries which will possibly have water shortage in the future. Therefore, it is vital to store and protect the precipitation that forms the fresh water source. Expanding settlement areas and increasing human activities reduce water yield in water basins, from which water is provided. Water basin preservation plans are prepared to protect supplies from pollution. The preservation zones are defined by standard distances in the prepared plans. However, water is collected in the same reservoir with surface or underground movements in the water basin. Elements that may pollute the water supply, defined by the plan and legislation, may also be present in these areas. Defining polluting sources depending on the distance in a water basin is not considered scientific. The nature, density and continuity of the polluting sources are among the criteria for determining water yield. In current practices, a drainage divide generally constitutes the water basin preservation zone. Determining the side boundaries of the water basin solely by drainage divide is not sufficient to understand the actual feeding zone of the reservoir. Slope, age and presence of faults and cracks in the underground beds have an essential impact in determining the side boundaries of the water basin. The purpose of the study is to emphasize the importance of fresh water resources, to draw attention to the pollution sources in the water basins, and to reveal the importance of geological structures in the water basin. The subject is discussed based on the analysis of a natural water basin system and an inductive method. The findings reveal that plans and laws are effective tools for preserving water basins. Current legislation and the planned decisions of Istanbul Elmali water basin are examined, in order to clarify the issue. It is observed that the criteria for preservation and sustainability of water basins need to be shown in detail for legislation. The geological structure analysis in water basins is expected to be a guide for future plans.