1. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the1
Groundwater Aquifer Storage and Recovery in Arid Regions:
Abu Dhabi Pilot Experiment Case Study
Dr. Mohamed Dawoud
Manager, Water Resources Department
Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi
“Learning from land and water projects experiences for smart management”
15-18 December 2013, Amman-Jordan

2. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the2
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Kuwait Qatar Oman UAE Bahrain Saudi
Arabia
Days
Dependency of Domestic Sector
on Desalination (100%)
Present Supply Network Present Storage

3. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the3
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81
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0
52
40
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0
31
27
40
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30
18
49
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37
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25
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51
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Haleiba
Az Zafrah
Agrab
Al Faiha
Bu Hamrah
Ramlat Ar Rabbad
Mender
Qusahwira
Mashhur
Al Qafa
Zarrarah
Huwaila
Bateen
Zaroub
As Sad
Al Khazna
B
U
H
A
S
A
S
A
H
IL
A
S
A
B
S
H
A
H
B
A
B
L I W A
Sultanate
of Oman
Dubai
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Arabian Gulf
Arzana
JebelHafit
Sharjah
0km 25km 50km 75km 100km
0 - 10
10 - 20
20 - 30
30 - 40
40 - 50
50 - 60
60 - 70
70 - 80
80 - 90
90 - 100
Evaluation
Points
Suitability of Area for
Large-Scale ASR-Project
Cluster excluded if three or more Criteria not fulfilled
Suitability of Areas for Large-Scale ASR-Project
No. of Criteria for which
Minimum Requirement is
not fulfilled
to
Evaluation Criteria, min. Requirements and max. Points:
max: 25 points
max. 10 points
max: 10 points
max. 20 points
max. 15 points
max. 10 points
max. 10 points
>=10 m
>=10 m
>=10m
<=25,000 ppm
<=5 ‰
>=5 km
<=500
Available Thickness of Vadose Zone
Available Aquifer System Thickness
Available Aquifer Thickness
Native Groundwater Salinity
Natural Geohydraulic Gradient
Distance to next Border / Shore
Number of existing Wells
SuitedLimitedSuitedUnsuited
ASR-Pilot Project Area
Abu
Dhabi
Al
Ain
Suitability Evaluation for Groundwater Aquifer
Overall Assessment of Criteria

4. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the4
Suitability Evaluation for Groundwater Aquifer
Overall Assessment of Criteria
HYDROGEOLOGY
 Availablethicknessof theaquifersystem
 Thicknessof thevadosezone(vertical distancesurfaceto
groundwater table)
 Aquifer confinement
 Quality/ salinityof thenativegroundwater
 Aquifer transmissivityandstorativity
 Groundwater flowgradient andvelocity
 Present andfutureuseof theaquifer bythirdparties(agriculture,
municipal, forestry, etc.)
 …….
OTHERS
 Distancetonearest border / coastline
 General infrastructure
 Present andfuturelandutilisation/ development (urban, industrial,
agriculture, etc.)
 Environmental aspects, regulations
 Concessions(oil, gas, mining, etc.)
 …….

5. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the5
Selection of Thematic Hydrogeological Maps
Geology, Geohydraulics, Hydrochemistry, Hydroisotopes
L I W A
-Oxygen-18 (per mil VSMOW)
Abu
Dhabi
L I W A
Arzana
Gradient of Groundwater Flow
Abu
Dhabi
L I W A
-Deuterium (per mil VSMOW)
Abu
Dhabi
L I W A
Arzana
Groundwater Level
Abu
Dhabi
L I W A
Bi-carbonate-Concentration
Abu
Dhabi
L I W A
Recharge Distance
Depth to Groundwater Level Abu
Dhabi
L I W A
Groundwater Salinity
Abu
Dhabi
L I W A
Jeb
elHafit
Thickness of Shallow Aquifer
Abu
Dhabi
L I W A
Thickness of Formation above Evaporites
Abu
Dhabi

6. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the6
Final Selection for ASR Pilot Project Location
Hydrogeological Cross Section
2530000 2540000 2550000 2560000 2570000 2580000 2590000 2600000 2610000 2620000 2630000 2640000 2650000 2660000
Latitude (UTM y40)
-75
-50
-25
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225
Elevation(mMSL)
-75
-50
-25
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225Al Qafa / Bu HasaLiwa
Crescent
Al Bateen
ArabianGulf
South North
saline
brackish
fresh
GW-Shed
<=1,000 ppm
>1,000 -1,500 ppm
>1,500 - 4,000 ppm
>4,000 - 7,000 ppm
>7,000 - 10,000 ppm
>10,000 ppm
Vertical Exaggeration: 100-fold
0 km 10 km 20 km 30 km 40 km 50 km
Aquitard / Aquiclude
Abu Dhabi
Al Ain
Shuweihat
Hamim
Mizeriah
Al Mirfa
Madinat Zayed
Arabian Gulf
0 km 50 km 100 km 150 km
Emirate of
Abu Dhabi

7. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the7
Infiltration/AbstractionRate(m³/h)
Cum.Infiltration/AbstractionVolume(m³)
ElevationofGroundwaterLevel(m+MSL)
ElevationofGroundwaterLevel(m+MSL)
Groundwater Level Fluctuations of Observed Wells
101103105107109111113115
101103105107109111113115
OB-01: r= 45.1m OB-02: r= 55.3m
OB-05: r= 0m OB-06A: r= 36.9m
OB-06B: r= 35.7m OB-06C: r= 36.1m
OB-06D: r= 38.5m OB-07A: r= 92.1m
OB-07B: r= 91.5m OB-07C: r= 91.4m
OB-07D: r= 92.3m OB-08: r= 127m
OB-09: r= 691.6m OB-10: r= 204.8m
OB-11: r= 433.5m OB-12: r= 889m
OB-13: r= 181m OB-14: r= 533.1m
OB-15: r= 731.3m OB-16: r= 99.7m
OB-17: r= 366.5m OB-18: r= 1164.2m
OB-19: r= 1766.5m
2,400
Regime of Desalinated Seawater Infiltration and Groundwater Abstraction
-300-200-1000100200300400
25.09.03
09.10.03
23.10.03
06.11.03
20.11.03
04.12.03
18.12.03
01.01.04
15.01.04
29.01.04
12.02.04
26.02.04
11.03.04
25.03.04
08.04.04
22.04.04
06.05.04
20.05.04
03.06.04
17.06.04
01.07.04
15.07.04
29.07.04
12.08.04
26.08.04
09.09.04
23.09.04
07.10.04
21.10.04
04.11.04
18.11.04
02.12.04
-1.2E+6-6.0E+50.0E+06.0E+51.2E+6
Infiltration Rate
Abstraction Rate (RB-01-04)
Cumulative Infiltration
Cumulative Abstraction (RB-01-04)
ASR Pilot Project (Infiltration/Recovery Cycles)
Groundwater Level Monitoring

8. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the8
ASR Pilot Project Results
250 days continuous injection
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
after 150 days
Infiltrated Volume: 883,100 m³
Initial Ground-
water Level
West East
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
-225 m -200 m -175 m -150 m -125 m -100 m -75 m -50 m -25 m 0 m 25 m 50 m 75 m 100 m 125 m 150 m 175 m 200 m 225 m
Initial EC of Groundwater
Before Start of InfiltrationInfiltration Basin
Screened
Section
of Well
Natural Groundwater Level
m+MSL
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
Initial Ground-
water Level
after 75 days
Infiltrated Volume: 432,700 m³
-225 m -200 m -175 m -150 m -125 m -100 m -75 m -50 m -25 m 0 m 25 m 50 m 75 m 100 m 125 m 150 m 175 m 200 m 225 m
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
after 250 days
Infiltrated Volume: 1,482,400 m³
Initial Ground-
water Level
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
after 25 days
Infiltrated Volume: 149,500 m³
Initial Ground-
water Level
West East
-225 m -200 m -175 m -150 m -125 m -100 m -75 m -50 m -25 m 0 m 25 m 50 m 75 m 100 m 125 m 150 m 175 m 200 m 225 m
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
after 250 days
Infiltrated Volume: 1,482,400 m³
Initial Ground-
water Level
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
after 150 days
Infiltrated Volume: 883,100 m³
Initial Ground-
water Level
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
Initial Ground-
water Level
after 75 days
Infiltrated Volume: 432,700 m³
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
OB-06A-D
OB-07A-D
OB-04
OB-05
OB-01
OB-02
OB-08
OB-10
RB-01
RB-03
OB-16
OB-13
-225 m -200 m -175 m -150 m -125 m -100 m -75 m -50 m -25 m 0 m 25 m 50 m 75 m 100 m 125 m 150 m 175 m 200 m 225 m
after 25 days
Infiltrated Volume: 149,500 m³Infiltration Basin
Initial Ground-
water Level
m+MSL

9. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the9
Lesson Learned and
Recommendations
• GCC countries depend on desalinated water for domestic
water supply.
• Emergency reserve in the surface reservoirs and
distribution network is 2-5 days.
• Increasing the storage capacity using surface reservoirs is
costly and not environmentally friendly.
• Groundwater storage using the artificial recharge
technique is a promising tool for strategic water reserves
in all GCC countries.
• Storing the fresh water in groundwater aquifers is safer
and more reliable in terms of time and location.
• It is recommended to carry out more extensive studies to
evaluate the feasibility of artificial recharge schemes.

10. Consultancy Services for Artificial Recharge and Utilisation of the Groundwater Resource in the10
Thank You