Preliminary study on saltwater distribution of lowland area at West Coast, Johor Malaysia

Abstract

Saltwater intrusion is a severe concern in coastal locations that pose a threat to the groundwater environment. Climate change, tidal effects, and groundwater exploitation all have the potential to disrupt the balance of salt water and fresh water in coastal aquifers which is the result of seawater intrusion that included the studies area. The sea-level rise is regarded as a cause that can enhance saltwater interface inland migration. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess saltwater intrusion in a zone mapping through the open channel distribution. This is qualified for monitoring a saltwater intrusion around West Johor which is approximately 10 km especially Batu Pahat, Johor such as Parit Botak, Parit Hailam Laut, Kampung Bahru Laut, Kampung Sri Pantai, and Sungai Senggarang. The salinity parameter was measured by the refractometer salinity instruments in percentage units (ppt) to PSU units. The high and low tides data collection on-site was monitored and analyzed saltwater intrusion distributed data into the interface mapping by using ArcGis 10.8 software. As the result, Kampung Sri Pantai was the highest data in the saline test 3 PSU for high tides and 4 PSU for low tides. However, the saltwater intrusion mapping was distributed through saline data obtained from the display maps to monitor the value of saline water in the study area. The contribution of this study to the community can be maintaining the ecosystem and monitoring existing structures such as tidal water gates and bunds of clean water resources for communities and irrigation purposes.