Integrated management of surface and underground water for the recovery of aquifers (Case study: Marand plain)

The most important causes of water shortage in today's world are population growth, reduced rainfall, land use change and urban development. Water is essential for many aspects of economic and social development, agricultural, urban and industrial uses and is an important component for the environment. In other words, water is considered as one of the most valuable natural resources and the most important issue and challenge in this century. Increased water demand due to population growth, development of agricultural and horticultural lands and in general the quantitative and qualitative limitations of harvestable water resources as one of the most important challenges in water resources management and planning, led to the combined use of surface water resources and Groundwater seems to be essential as the two main sources of water supply. Integrated management of surface and groundwater resources is the combined exploitation of two sources in which surface and groundwater resources are used together. The main goal of integrated management is to achieve sustainable development. Therefore, the principles of integrated management are based on the combination of supply management with demand management, which also considers environmental, social and economic aspects. Considering that most of the water needs in our country are met through aquifers, so knowing the status of aquifers can help in proper management of water resources in the region. One of the solutions to deal with the issue of over-extraction from groundwater resources is the use of integrated surface and groundwater management. Due to the decrease in precipitation, especially in recent decades, the reduction of surface and groundwater resources and the uncontrolled abstraction of aquifers and the increase in demand have resulted frome this. In such situations, the need for accurate management of water resources is strongly felt, and the tools of this management and careful planning are the extraction of relationships between factors such as rainfall, groundwater level, consumption, and so on. Marand plain is one of the forbidden plains of East Azerbaijan province, which lacks permanent surface water resources. Therefore, excessive exploitation of groundwater resources has caused a sharp drop in water levels in the region. Therefore, the study of surface and groundwater in this area in order to achieve a proper management approach seemed necessary. In this research, the consumptions of Marand plain were evaluated by using the simulation model of WEAP and GMS. The calibration and validation of these two models respectively were done based on a ten-year-period of 2002-2011 and a of 3-year period of 2012-2014. Then, different managerial scenarios were considered providing the drinking water in Marand. The scenarios were defined through limitations in using wells, increase the efficiency of irrigation in agriculture section, construct a sewage system, and two combinations of the above mentioned scenarios, in order to reduce the water demand and improve the condition of aquifers. Predictions were made for a 23-year-period according to these scenarios and its effects on the studied water sources. Results indicated that simultaneously utilizing different methods of water management is better than using a single method, which leads to the improvement and revival of aquifers and reduction of water extraction from different sources. The reliability index of providing water in the compound method, for different sections of urban drinking water, rural, agriculture, and industry was calculated at 100, 100, 64.7 and 74.6, respectively. By the compound scenario, the water level would have 16 meter reduction, while the aquifer could be improved with the yearly recharge of 0.29 million square meters and have a relative balance between withdrawals and recharges of the aquifer.