Managed aquifer recharge for drinking water supply in water scarce areas near the Aral Sea

A.Mavlonov, I.Gracheva, A.Karimov, F.Miryusupov

Lack of sources of drinking water supply is one of the main issues of the area near the Aral Sea. Decreasing the Amudarya River flow, reaching to the downstream, due to excessive diversion for irrigation in the midstream has resulted in depletion of the groundwater resources suitable for drinking water supply. Fortunately, there are some lens of fresh water appears temporary along the irrigation canals. These temporary lenses occur in sandy deposits during flood season in July-August.  We modeled managed aquifer recharge using MODFLOW with the purpose of determining a proper recharge and extraction rates and regime to maintain the good quality water in the groundwater lenses from one flood period until the next season. Based on the modeling results several managed aquifer recharge sites were constructed in the area near the Aral Sea. Modeling results and groundwater quality change details given in the paper for Ullyabag site shows that managing groundwater recharge and extraction rates and regime could be a proper strategy for water supply of the rural population in the study area.