An Overview of Historical Development, Current Situation, and Future Prospects of Managed Aquifer Recharge in Türkiye

Mehmet Korkut; Niels Hartog; Vural Yavuz

doi:10.3390/w17030439

An Overview of Historical Development, Current Situation, and Future Prospects of Managed Aquifer Recharge in Türkiye

Mehmet Korkut^*, Niels Hartog, Vural Yavuz

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Climate change, rapid population growth, and unsustainable water use in industry and agriculture have all significantly harmed the quantity and quality of groundwater resources. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) offers a solution to these challenges, encompassing a variety of methods and strategies for protecting and improving groundwater systems. This article provides a complete overview of MAR in Türkiye, concentrating on its historical development, current situation, and future prospects. MAR has been increasingly used to combat water scarcity since the 1960s, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions in Türkiye with significant groundwater depletion. The majority of completed managed aquifer recharge (MAR) projects in Türkiye employ in-channel modifications, accounting for 77%. This is followed by well recharge techniques and surface spreading methods, with values of 16% and 4%, respectively. Future projects are expected to focus on the southeastern and central regions, with in-channel modifications increasing to 90%. In comparison, methods such as well recharge (6%), surface spreading (3%), and other methods are limited. Despite the growing application of MAR, Turkey requires strong regulatory frameworks to ensure the safe and successful implementation of these methods, including groundwater quality, source water regulations, and geological concerns regionally. MAR can promote sustainable water management by minimizing the effects of population growth and climate change on groundwater resources.

Original language	English
Article number	439
Journal	Water (Switzerland)
Volume	17
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/w17030439
Publication status	Published - Feb 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 by the authors.

Funding

The author gratefully acknowledges The Scientific and Technological Research Council of T\u00FCrkiye (T\u00DCB\u0130TAK) and Istanbul Technical University (ITU) for funds and support. The author would also like to thank the KWR Water Research Institute for their outstanding support. The authors thank the State Hydraulic Works and its dedicated people for their outstanding efforts and for providing critical data for this study. Special thanks are due to Mehmet Halit \u015Earald\u0131, Serkan Da\u011Fl\u0131o\u011Flu, and \u00C7i\u011Fdem Y\u00FCcel from The State of Hydraulic Works for their assistance. We are grateful to Turgut \u00D6zta\u015F for his invaluable assistance and supervision in completing this study.

Funders	Funder number
Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu
Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi

Keywords

artificial recharge
managed aquifer recharge
Türkiye
water management

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3390/w17030439Licence: CC BY

water-17-00439Final published version, 5.88 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Climate change, rapid population growth, and unsustainable water use in industry and agriculture have all significantly harmed the quantity and quality of groundwater resources. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) offers a solution to these challenges, encompassing a variety of methods and strategies for protecting and improving groundwater systems. This article provides a complete overview of MAR in T{\"u}rkiye, concentrating on its historical development, current situation, and future prospects. MAR has been increasingly used to combat water scarcity since the 1960s, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions in T{\"u}rkiye with significant groundwater depletion. The majority of completed managed aquifer recharge (MAR) projects in T{\"u}rkiye employ in-channel modifications, accounting for 77%. This is followed by well recharge techniques and surface spreading methods, with values of 16% and 4%, respectively. Future projects are expected to focus on the southeastern and central regions, with in-channel modifications increasing to 90%. In comparison, methods such as well recharge (6%), surface spreading (3%), and other methods are limited. Despite the growing application of MAR, Turkey requires strong regulatory frameworks to ensure the safe and successful implementation of these methods, including groundwater quality, source water regulations, and geological concerns regionally. MAR can promote sustainable water management by minimizing the effects of population growth and climate change on groundwater resources.",

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An Overview of Historical Development, Current Situation, and Future Prospects of Managed Aquifer Recharge in Türkiye

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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