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How can groundwater reservoirs be artificially replenished in dry regions? Volume 11, issue 4, Décembre 2000

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Case 114, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, 4, place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05.
  • Page(s) : 289-96
  • Published in: 2001

Water storage is essential in dry regions to meet the irrigation and drinking water needs of fast-growing populations. For several reasons, there should be a gradual shift from open reservoirs to shallow evaporation-proof aquifers for water storage. Unfortunately, artificial replenishment techniques are generally developed in temperate regions, which means that they have to be substantially modified before implementation in dry regions: very low water flow in Sahelian rivers responsible for severe water shortages in large towns, enhanced storage of infiltration water from occasional flooding, and development of new reservoirs adapted to specific conditions, e.g. alluvial fans, dune ridges, or injection of freshwater in brackish aquifers. These new techniques should help solve the serious water shortages expected in many arid countries throughout the Saharan region and the Middle-East