Applying data science techniques to groundwater vulnerability management and analysis: Case study of the groundwater source Novoselija, Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina

To address the issue of groundwater vulnerability management and analysis, an algorithm was developed based on which the necessary research was conducted in the broader area surrounding the water source Novoselija used for water supply of the population in the city of Banja Luka (Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina). Within the GIS, as one of the spatial data techniques, the GOD method for vulnerability assessment was used. Data visualization within the GIS program package, combined with the aforementioned GOD method, enabled a clearer understanding of the spatial distribution of groundwater vulnerability in this area, which made it possible to delineate different zones: from negligible to extreme vulnerability. The high degree of the parameter has been determined in the zone of the actual water source and is associated with terrace and gravels sediments. In the alluvial sediment zone, located south of the water source, vulnerability has been assessed as extreme. In this area, there is certainly a potential risk of groundwater vulnerability to all pollutants, with a very rapid impact in most contamination scenarios. From the east and the west side, the aquifer in question is confined by flysch deposits of Cretaceous age, which are hydrogeologically characterized as conditionally “waterless” parts of the terrain, and within them, the vulnerability has been classified as negligible. The results of this research are also important for later delineation of the sanitary protection zone of the aquifer in question.