Management of aquifer recharge in arid zones under coastal constrains

International audienceThe Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is a broad collection of practices for water resource management, aiming at underground water recharge and storage for its recovery. Climate change, population growth and economic development may be behind the acute tension over water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. In these areas, recourse to new sources of water has to be considered in order to secure water supply for drinking, irrigation, tourism and domestic using. Artificial groundwater recharge using different water resources (desalted waters, river waters, treated wastewater, etc.) appears as one of major solution to the recurrent issue of water scarcity and supply security. Artificial groundwater recharge is potentially a pragmatic way to store and restore water in the environment allowing to: i) maintain necessary water supply levels, ii) alleviate salt water intrusion into costal aquifers, iii) store water avoiding evaporation as it happens for dams, and iv) make it available at any time for all needs