Publication

Managing aquifer recharge: a showcase for resilience and sustainability

Creating profound economic benefits and ensuring environmental sustainability
Managing aquifer recharge: a showcase for resilience and sustainability
Zheng, Yan
UNESCO
Ross, Andrew
Villholth, Karen G.
Dillon, Peter
2021
UNESCO
0000379962

Innovative solutions are vital to tackle challenges to water security and climate resilience. This book presents 28 real-life examples of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) from around the world, where, at village to state level, people have collaborated to improve quantity and quality of water supplies and buffer them against drought and emergencies. The diverse cases inspire an improved understanding of groundwater systems and showcase their capability to store additional water to meet critical human needs for water and food, and to purify water relying on passive treatment.

The case studies give irrefutable evidence that water resources can be sustained, groundwater storage increased, environmental flows in streams enhanced, and seawater intrusion prevented, while passively 鈥渢reating鈥 water to improve its quality with natural processes. These MAR schemes, often in operation over many years, have demonstrated a level of success that has gained public support. The lessons learned deserve to be shared widely, given the prevalence of the problems solved.

MAR has been proven to produce a wealth of benefits from integrated management of a wide range of conventional and un-conventional water resources, paving the way for global adoption to achieve sustainable development goals for water.