Integrating Top-Down and Bottom-Up Perspectives for Site Selection for Aquifer Storage and Recharge

Abstract:

Sustainable use of water resources is crucial to avoid their quantitative or qualitative mismanagement. Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) based technique may help to reduce the occurrence of flooding and improve the access of water during the dry season but these technologies required specific locations for successful implementation. The main objective of this study is to present the development of a conceptual model for the selection of a suitable site for ASR installation in the heterogeneous aquifers. The study site is located in two distinguished aquifer system near the Rajgir block of Nalanda, Bihar, India. The conceptual model indicates that the surface water availability, aquifer characteristics, and land availability are the most critical parameters for the site selection for ASR installations which combines a number of socio-economic factors and scientific parameters in this study.