Assessment of managed aquifer recharge using GIS based modeling approach in West Coast, South Africa

Abstract

Due to climate change, rapid urbanization, and population expansion, the water demand and supply is showing increasing fluctuations, especially in the arid or semi-arid regions. One of the most important water resource management strategies to improve water security in these drought-prone areas is managed aquifer recharge (MAR), which is developed to recharge groundwater purposefully and increase its storage to overcome the temporal imbalance between local water demand and availability, thus improving water security of the water supply. Assessment of an MAR project requires the integration of many types of methods, data and information from many disciplines, which makes it a challenge. This thesis addressed a GIS based modeling approach for assessing the implementation of MAR in terms of suitable sites as well as appropriate scheme in drought-prone area. The West Coast of South Africa was studied as a case. Langebaan Road