Groundwater Artificial Recharge in the Marj Sanour Watershed-Palestine

Groundwater forms the main water source in the Marj Sanour Watershed. While domestic water is mainly abstracted from the deeper aquifersAquifers, shallow aquiferAquifers is mainly used for agricultural purposes. Due to drought and the over-pumping of the agricultural boreholes drilled in the area, the groundwater level of the shallow aquiferAquifers has dropped by more than 80 m during the last ten years causing a serious reduction of discharge of the agricultural wells. This has compelled the farmers to look for alternatives to increase the availability of water to sustain their agriculture. Artificial rechargeArtificial recharge is one of the most promising alternatives that can contribute to enhancing groundwater supplies. Groundwater recharge wellsRecharge well are suggested to be one of the most appropriate techniques that best suites Marj Sanour area due to the following reasons: 1. Availability of floodwater on an annual basis in the Marj area, which submerges large parts of the Marj for a few months. 2. Availability of good storage potential within the shallow aquiferAquifers. Accordingly, the Palestinian Hydrology Group (PHG) has proposed a pilot project to drill ten artificial rechargeArtificial recharge wells under the Land and Water Resources Management Project funded by the Netherland Representation Office (NRO). The aim is to assist in arresting the accelerated decline of the groundwater level and minimize the submerged agricultural area. Among the ten proposed wells, six recharge wellsRecharge well have already been drilled in the part of the watershed which remains flooded for a few months. The source water is filtered through a filtration system before being put into aquifersAquifers. The estimated recharge through these six wells is about 20,249 m3/day.