Regional screening for managed aquifer recharge suitability in Jordan, Lebanon, and surrounding areas

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Arab Water Council, Hydrology.NL, National Center for Research and Development (Jordan), and American University of Beirut, completed a project for acceleration of aquifer storage and recovery in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The MENA region is globally the most water-scarce region with only two percent of the global average annual rainfall. Unsustainable groundwater withdrawals have caused groundwater levels to decline. Groundwater quality has also degraded due to seawater intrusion in coastal areas and infiltration of incompletely treated wastewaters. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is an established water resources management practice to help sustain groundwater resources and increase water supply and security. The project team prepared regional screening maps of MAR suitability based on accumulated runoff and land surface slope to illustrate suitability mapping methods and highlight areas of suitable runoff and slope that may be appropriate for MAR in Jordan, Lebanon, and surrounding areas. The datasets included in this Data Release are: Map 1 prepared using tabular ranking of combinations of different classes of slope and runoff, and Map 2 prepared using multi-criteria decision analysis for slope and runoff. For detailed description of each dataset please see the associated report "Managed Aquifer Recharge Suitability—Regional Screening and Case Studies in Jordan and Lebanon".