Groundwater recharge is the enhancement of natural ground water supplies using man-made conveyances such as infiltration basins, trenches, dams, or injection wells. Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is a specific type of groundwater recharge practiced with the purpose of both augmenting ground water resources and recovering the water in the future for various uses.
Climate change considerations
- More storage capacity needed to overcome seasonal dry periods and to reduce floods.
- Higher rainfall intensities may exceed infiltration capacities. Create storage, enhanced infiltration or artificial recharge.
- Lower rainfall results in the need for transport and storage of water from other areas.
- Changes in vegetation will cause changes in evapotranspiration, surface runoff, erosion and sediment transport/deposition. This requires water and soil conservation measures, like terracing.
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Groundwater recharge links
- Sustainable Development of Groundwater Resources in Southern and Eastern Africa. International Atomic Energy Agency.
- Rainwater Harvesting and Utilisation. or (alternative link). Blue Drop Series: Book 2: Beneficiaries & Capacity Builders. UN-HABITAT.
- Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR)
Acknowledgements
- Tuinhof, Albert and Heederik, Jan Piet. Management of Aquifer Recharge and Subsurface Storage or (alternative link). Netherlands National Committee for the IAH and Netherlands Hydrological Society. 2002.
- Aquifer Recharge (AR) and Aquifer Storage & Recovery (ASR). United States EPA.
- Management of Ground Water in Africa Including Transboundary Aquifers: Implications for Food Security, Livelihood and Climate Change Adaptation. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Climate Policy Centre, 2011.
- CARE Nederland, Desk Study: Resilient WASH systems in drought-prone areas. October 2010.