Artificial Groundwater Recharge - Aquifer Storage and Retrieval - Qatar
Background
Qatar is an arid, oil-producing country with extremely limited water resources. Water has been supplied using groundwater and through seawater desalination. The water demands of an expanding petroleum industry and a growing population are straining existing water resources. Water consumption exceeds aquifer recharge rates, and water quality is deteriorating. The number of farm wells has increased from 350 to 2000 since 1967, and almost 90 percent of the country’s ground-water is allocated for agriculture. However, further agricultural development is hampered by a lack of irrigation. Two potential sources of water have been identified: imports from Iran or artificial recharge of groundwater through aquifer recharge.
Objectives
The project objective was to assess the potential benefits of a test project using aquifer storage and retrieval (ASR) for Qatar.
Outputs
ASR was determined to be a technically viable solution to aquifer recharge. However, the consultants concluded that Qatar’s institutional capacity required further development. Moreover, the high cost of desalinated water ($1.50 per m3 in 1995) made large-scale artificial recharge economically unfeasible at that time. A key recommendation was that the water sector as a whole be assessed in order to establish a coordinated water management strategy, possibly at the level of the Supreme Planning Council, to provide a clear economic and institutional framework for a pilot aquifer recharge project. Hydrosult also recommended that the government move toward implementation of an environmental strategy to sustain Qatar’s aquifers.
Sponsor: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Duration: 1995
Project value: $55 000.00
Qatar is an arid, oil-producing country with extremely limited water resources. Water has been supplied using groundwater and through seawater desalination. The water demands of an expanding petroleum industry and a growing population are straining existing water resources. Water consumption exceeds aquifer recharge rates, and water quality is deteriorating. The number of farm wells has increased from 350 to 2000 since 1967, and almost 90 percent of the country’s ground-water is allocated for agriculture. However, further agricultural development is hampered by a lack of irrigation. Two potential sources of water have been identified: imports from Iran or artificial recharge of groundwater through aquifer recharge.![Click here for full size](javascript:fullimage("fullimage.php?img=full/Hydrosultconsultants.jpg"))
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