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Assessing the severity of the Mashhad-Chenaran aquifer crisis using C/RW, GWD, and GDS indices

Authors :

Hossein Mohammadzadeh¹ Atefeh Abbasi² Mahmood Arjomandsharif³ Kamran Davari⁴

1- دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد 2- دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد 3- شرکت آب منطقه ای خراسان رضوی 4- دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد

Keywords :

Aquifer crisis،Mashhad-Chenaran

Abstract :

The ever-increasing growth of population and development in the agricultural and industrial sectors, coupled with drought, has intensified the exploitation of the groundwater resources from the Mashhad-Chenaran Aquifer (MCA), which has caused an extensive drop in the water level and a sharp decrease in groundwater reservoirs. In this paper, a number of indices based on renewable water have been used to evaluate the severity of the MCA crisis. Based on this, the ratio of consumed water to renewable water (C/RW) was estimated to be 1.3 on average for the past 6 years, which is a sign of imbalance according to the standard. And the dependency indices on renewable groundwater (GWD) was more than 80%, and the stress resulting from the increase in groundwater abstraction (GDS) was estimated to be more than 181%. According to these indices, the MCA is in a water deficit condition. In other words, the renewable water cannot meet the water needs and the groundwater of MCA must be managed more carefully. It is necessary to take immediate and appropriate solutions by related organizations and companies.