APPLICATION OF ISOTOPE HYDROLOGY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF ARTIFICIAL GROUND WATER RECHARGE IN SOME AREAS OF UAE

摘要

Due to recharge - discharge imbalance, severe depletion of groundwater tablehas occurred in most of the aquifers in United Arab Emirates. Evolved from its primerole to develop the water resources in the country, the Ministry of Environment andWater has constructed a large number of detention and retention dams across the mainwadies. To assess groundwater recharge increase due to these dams, isotope methodswere used to calculate such increase in three major wadies as Wuraiah, Bih and Tawean.Hydrochemical and isotopic data ( 18 O, 2 H and 3 H) have clearly showed a meaningfulcontribution to the recharge from the dams. A tentative isotopic balance based on stableisotopes of rains water stored by these dams drove to a quantification of the artificialrecharge ranging from 20 to 40%.