Multicriteria analysis for groundwater depletion assessment and managed recharge site identification in arid basins

Le résumé fourni par la source

Rapid groundwater storage depletion in Saudi Arabia threatens long-term water security where renewable surface water is scarce. This study quantified groundwater storage change across Saudi aquifer systems from 2003 to 2023 using data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On, integrated with multicriteria geographic information systems analysis to identify managed aquifer recharge zones. Monthly terrestrial water storage anomalies were converted into groundwater storage anomalies after removing soil moisture and snow water components from the Global Land Data Assimilation System. Results showed a depletion trend of −8.1 ± 1.2 mm year−1, equal to 4.1 km3 year−1, with strongest losses in the Eastern Province and Riyadh Region. Weighted overlay analysis identified 58 420 km2 with very high recharge potential and 142 600 km2 with high potential. Validation using 48 wells produced Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.912 and root mean square error of 6.3 mm.

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