Δ-MAR: Governance and hydrogeological prerequisites for sustainable water supply through MAR systems in urbanizing deltas, applied to Bangladesh

NWO-WOTRO Urbanising Deltas of the World – Integrated Project

Drinking water availability in the southern coastal saline delta of Bangladesh is restricted in the dry season and at risk during storm surges. A public-private consortium including UNICEF built 100 small-scale pilot managed aquifer recharge (MAR) systems in the Kulna district in the period 2012-2014. These MAR systems placed in brackish aquifers are filled in the monsoon with pond or in some cases rooftop water. Source water is let though a sand filter to remove turbidity before being infiltrated under gravity through 4-6 wells in the aquifer. Infiltrated water is abstracted via a central abstraction well.

The current systems show successes and failures, indicating knowledge gaps related to design, operation, water quality, governance, and business development. Therefore, knowledge and guidelines are needed for optimal performance with respect to water quantity, quality, and governance. This is essential for up-scaling of MAR in both Bangladesh and other deltas. The 100 constructed systems regularly being monitored form a unique opportunity to study the performance of small-scale MAR systems under a variety of hydrogeological and social-economic conditions.

The DeltaMAR project started in autumn 2015 and its objective is to address these knowledge gaps by determining financial, institutional, environmental, technical, and social prerequisites for the successful regional-scale, self-propelling, and sustainable implementation of MAR systems in urbanizing, saline deltas. Research will be conducted by a team of 4 PhD students. Two PhD students from Bangladesh will investigate the technological aspects related to the physical hydrology (supervisor Mark Bakker, section Hydrology) and water quality (supervisor Boris van Breukelen, section Sanitary Engineering). The third PhD student from Bangladesh (supervisor Frank van Laerhoven, UU) will investigate governance strategies. The mapping of optimal locations for MAR for regional implementation will be conducted by the Dutch PhD student (supervisor Paul Schot, UU; Koos Groen, Acasia Water). Supervisors at Dhaka University are prof. Kazi Matin Ahmed and Shantanu Majumber.

Project partners
Delft University of Technology, Utrecht University, University of Dhaka, Acasia Water.

Funded by
NWO-WOTRO, Urbanizing Deltas of the World

Project coordinator
Boris van Breukelen

Period
2015-2019