Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Gulf Countries: A Review and Selection Criteria

摘要

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are arid with very limited availability of water resources. In recent years,these countries have started an intensive program to increase the storage of groundwater through various techniques ofmanaged aquifer recharge (MAR). Water consisting of varying quantity and quality (derived from various sources) are usedvia MAR techniques to increase the groundwater storage and, if possible to enhance its quality, respectively. This paperpresents a review of the MAR techniques practiced in GCC countries including the implementation strategies of the differentstructures. Generally, seven MAR techniques are utilized in GCC countries including dams, aquifer storage and recovery(ASR) technique, aquifer storage transfer and recovery (ASTR) technique, ponds, soil aquifer treatment (SAT) technique,rooftop rainwater harvesting, and Karez/Ain system. Results indicated that ASR using excess desalinated water or treatedsewage effluent (TSE) is the most used MAR technique in GCC countries, followed by the use of ASTR, dams, and ponds.Based on this review, twelve different selection criteria have been developed for GCC countries for better MAR practice inthe future.