Assessment of sustainability and management for groundwater source in Erbil city

Abstract

The issue of rationalizing water consumption and preserving it for future generations is one of the most important indicators of sustainable development referred to in the Agenda 21. This study aims to assess the sustainability of water resources for the city of Erbil in terms of quantity and quality. In this study, the amount of water available in the existing water sources was evaluated and compared with the volume of water demand. The reliability of water sources, especially groundwater, in the selected area was evaluated and confirmed. The study also focused on the management of groundwater by the concerned authorities and the identification of factors that help to develop the sustainability of these sources. The problems facing the management of groundwater and the proposed solutions to solve these problems were also identified. Due to the rapid growth of the populations and lack of both water demand and water supply system, Erbil City required a fundamental evaluation of water supply systems and good planning for future. However, in this study, the assessment was conducted based on the existing data and the accurate archived documents as well. As a result, the study concluded that there have been a lot of problems that should be taken into consideration in order to provide good managing of the groundwater system. It was also observed that there was slightly higher depletion in groundwater table due to poor supplying. This study can be used as a fundamental reference for future investigations especially for those areas having the same problems in sustainable management of the subsurface basins.