Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Low-Regret Measure for Climate Change Adaptation: Insights from Los Arenales, Spain

Abstract

In view of heightened climate change (CC), adaptation strategies are imperative to diminish the impacts on social and environmental assets. Two approaches are commonly used to formulate adaptation measures, namely bottom-up and top-down, each with inherited limitations. A sound bridge between both approaches is low-regret adaptive measures, which result in win-win scenarios, as they provide solutions to current pressures and contribute to building CC adaptive capacity. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is a term that includes a series of techniques that enhance groundwater storage for later use or environmental purposes. MAR is often mentioned in the literature as a CC adaptation measure. Nonetheless, few examples explicitly prove this point. We show through the Los Arenales MAR systems (Central Spain) that MAR is a low-regret CC adaptive measure. We evaluate a series of social and environmental challenges that MAR systems contribute to solving, as well as their attributes that diminish the expected impacts of CC in the study area. MAR in the Los Arenales groundwater body has resulted in an overall increase in groundwater levels; a reduction in groundwater pumping energy and costs and CO2 emissions; restoration of a surface water body; improvement in rural population indexes; and enhanced groundwater demand control and CC adaptive capacity through irrigation communities. To cope with CC, the Los Arenales MAR systems can be operated even if decreasing streamflow precludes the use of river water surpluses; they provide surface storage volume to mitigate flooding; and they decrease the impacts of droughts and water scarcity. This research proves that MAR is a water management tool capable of providing solutions to several pressures simultaneously in the present and future, an attribute particularly useful when dealing with adaptation gaps in developing countries, rural areas, or regions lacking long-term climatic data.

Climate Adaptation Measures for Enhancing Urban Resilience

“…Climate change poses profound challenges for societies globally, necessitating the development and implementation of diverse, multifaceted climate adaptation measures to mitigate impacts and promote resilience [45]. These strategies span five broad categories: physical infrastructure [46,47], ecosystem restoration and protection [48,49], water management [50,51], and policy and planning [52,53]. Each provides unique responses to different aspects of climate change, and together, they present a comprehensive framework for understanding the range of adaptation strategies available.…”

Unintentional Recharge of Aquifers from Small Dams and Dykes in Spain: A GIS-Based Approach to Determine a Fractional Volume

“…A GIS-based approach relying on various information layers is applied to achieve the second objective. This analysis does not imply that recharge from dykes and dams is considered an intentional mechanism to increase groundwater storage, and therefore, can be regarded as MAR, but rather that the additional recharge constitutes a secondary effect [14].…”

Modelling regional effects of artificial groundwater recharge in a multilayer aquifer characterized by perched water tables

“…In particular, intensive groundwater use led to the degradation of numerous springs and wetlands (Llorente & Bejarano, 2018). To counter these effects, the Douro basin authority has implemented various corrective measures, including artificial recharge (Henao Casas, Fernández Escalante, & Ayuga, 2022; Henao Casas, Fernández‐Escalante, & Ayuga, 2022; Henao Casas, Fernández‐Escalante, Calero Gil, & Ayuga, 2022; Mayor, de la Hera‐Portillo, et al, 2021; Mayor, López Gunn, et al, 2021).…”

“…To counter these effects, the Douro basin authority has implemented various corrective measures, including artificial recharge Henao Casas, Fernández-Escalante, Calero Gil, & Ayuga, 2022;Mayor, de la Hera-Portillo, et al, 2021;Mayor, L opez Gunn, et al, 2021).…”