An Analytical Study of the Groundwater Rehabilitation and Balancing Plan of the Country and the Challenges of Its Advancement

Subject Areas : Water and Environment

Mahdi Sarai Tabrizi ¹ , Sayed Morteza Mousavi ² , Ali Reza Tavakoli ³ , Mohsen Barahimi ⁴ , Amirali Fatahi ⁵

1 - Assistant Professor, Department of Water Engineering and Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.
2 - PhD. Student of Water Resources, Department of Water Engineering and Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.
3 - Associate Professor, Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AERI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.
4 - Managing Director of Abgostaran Mihan Consulting Engineering Company and PhD. in Water Resources Management, Tehran, Iran.
5 - Water Resources Engineering Expert, Member of the Working Group on Sustainable Use of Water Resources for Agricultural Production, National Committee for Irrigation and Drainage of Iran, Iran, Tehran.

Received: 2021-05-16 Accepted : 2023-10-27 Published : 2023-06-22

Keywords: Aquifer, Conservation and Sustainability of Water Resources, National Plan.,

Abstract :

Background and Objective: Significant decline of groundwater reservoirs in all plains of the country and its adverse consequences are intensifying day by day, so the purpose of this study is to comprehensively assess the trend of favorable and unfavorable changes in the national plan to rehabilitate and balance the country's groundwater resources. Material and Methodology: According to the purpose of this research, from all upstream documents in water science and engineering, including water resources balance reports of the country's study areas, summary reports and feedback of regional water companies in all provinces after the implementation of this national plan and extracting information from library resources and face-to-face talks with Experts from the Ministry of Energy were used. Findings: According to the latest available information (Ministry of Energy), there are more than 858,000 active wells in the country, of which about 50 billion cubic meters are discharged for various purposes. During the last half century, as a result of depletion of groundwater resources more than the feeding of aquifers and consecutive droughts, more than 410 out of 609 study areas of the country have been banned. With the aim of balancing water withdrawal with natural discharge capacity and repairing lost groundwater reserves over a period of 20 years, the plan to rehabilitate and balance groundwater resources in 2014 was approved by the Supreme Water Council and control the average annual deficit 5.6 billion cubic meters of aquifers (leading to the water year 2015-16) have been defined and planned in the 5-year period of the Sixth Plan in the country. In this regard, the Ministry of Energy has developed an action plan at the level of provinces and study areas covered. Discussion and Conclusion: With the passage of a decade since the implementation of this national plan, in this study, the results of the field performance at the level of the country's provinces were extracted and compared with the annual goals. Considering the trend, it becomes clear that the extent of water governance for the protection of underground water resources is in an unfavorable situation. The results show that not supporting this plan will face the country with irreparable challenges and consequences in the not too distant future.

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