As Iran’s climate is arid and semiarid the ways of utilizingground water resources are of great importance. One of the regions affected by excessive exploitation of ground water resources is Hashtgerd plain in west of the Karaj region. The level of ground water has decreased by 2 to 4 meters during past ten years. To prevent further fall, Artificial recharge plan is pat forth. The proposed region for this purpose is located in south of Kordan village, below Tehran-Tabriz railway and on the east bank of Kordan river. Water for Artificial recharge is provided from Kordan river and the volume of feeding is 3.5 cubic meters per second on avarage from February to May. The weight of carried sediment (suspended substancest+bed load) by Kordan river during four month period of Artificial recharge is estimated to be 123.68 thousand Tons. According to Schoeller diagram water of Kordan river is of good quality for drinking but sedimentation properties and can becategorized in C2S1 class according to Willcox diagram. Geologically, Artificial recharge region is formed by Tehran allovium (C series) that belongs to plio - quaterner period. Form hydrogeologic aspects, this allovium plays important role in Artificial recharge because experiments showed that transmissibility of proposed region is about 3500 square meters per day and its vertical and horizantal permeabilities are calculated to be 2 and 14 per day respectively. By using isobat maps, the height of aquifer is estimated to be 250 meters and storage coefficient is obtained to be 7 to 9 percent utilizing budget equation. After Artificial recharge, Hassman, Hantush and Todd methods are used to calculate the increase of ground water level and dimensions of basins. According to Hassman method the total surface area of basins are calculated to be 79562.12 square meters in which 6 basins that measure 60 x 200 meters can be designed.

In Artificial recharge systems, the problem of clogging in the bed of Artificial recharge basins is the most critical issue in the field of the efficiency of Artificial recharge systems. Field experiments are carried out at Shahriyar Artificial recharge project, in order to measure the variation of infiltration rate in basins. Field experiments were carried out in 5 ponds in the Karaj River bed, using a double ring method. The results showed that the average of infiltration in the control samples is 29. 5 and 30. 2 cm/h and within the Artificial recharge field, the permeability varies from 18. 6 to 5. 7 cm/hr. The results showed that the pond 1 is in the middle position for permeability, which is practically out of control. After removing in 10, 20 and 30 cm states, after removing 20 centimeters of sediments, there was a significant change in the permeability of all basins. Therefore, it is suggested that the 20cm of sediments of all basins to be removed to increase the efficiency of the plan. The results of analysis of variance showed that simple effect of depth, location and basin on level of surface permeability at 1% level and interaction of surface and basin levels on permeability at 5% significance level.

Irregular groundwater consumption and not replacing it has reduced groundwater level in many of aquifers at Iran. So determination of suitable areas for Artificial recharge is very important as a solution to this problem. The goal of this study is determination of Artificial recharge basins location by fuzzy logic and then optimal design of these basins. The ratio of income to expense was used to selection of the basins best design. So، five height scenarios were defined. All of scenarios were simulated by HEC-HMS model and their income was determined as infiltrated water volume. Also، the expense of scenarios was calculated based on materials used in building basins. The results showed that the suitable areas for Artificial recharge plan implementation are 0. 86% very efficient and 4. 7% efficient by fuzzy logic method. Also the best scenario is 2. 5 m based on the benefit to cost ratio and 2m based on the benefits view.

One of the strategies, is conducting Artificial recharge, which is required to be evaluated using sustainability indexes in order to quantify the effects. In this research, a new approach is utilized for evaluation of groundwater system sustainability, combining the indexes, reliability, vulnerability and desirability considering the effect of Artificial recharge scenario. First, the effect of Shurab Sivjan Artificial recharge project on Birjand aquifer is simulated for a nine-year period, projected to 1404 Hijri (2025 Gregorian) with normal climatic condition, using MODFLOW model. Simulation results show that aquifer system sustainability is higher in the downstream parts, where the Khusf observation well is located, justifying by the groundwater recharge flow direction, low difference between optimum and measured groundwater level, and thin saturated thickness with 55 percent. Evaluation of indexes over the aquifer shows that the Artificial recharge project could enhance the system sustainability between 21 to 25 percent according to reduce, constant and increment discharge scenarios. The proposed index in this research can be utilized for the other aquifers as well as in decision-making, because of its ability to define in distributed manner and possibility of evaluating the effects of different scenarios.

The optimal utilization management is indispensable due to the limited groundwater resources and water resources high demand. The Artificial recharge of aquifers is one of the most important approaches for this purpose, because of high performance and relatively low cost. In order to find the optimum sites for Artificial recharge of aquifers, it is necessary to consider the whole effective factors in relation to recharge. In this study, the Rockworks software, widely employed in previous subsurface studies, was used for site selection analysis and final map generation. The case study is located in Surander watershed, Saravan countryside, Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran.  In order to find the suitable sites, it was used for analyzing data layers including slope, infiltration, permeability, alluvium thickness, alluvial quality, land use, watershed discharge, and aquifer layers transmissivity. These factors were weighted in Rockworks interface. Then, each of them was interpolated using Krigging method. All of the maps were produced by using Boolean operation. In the next step, generated Boolean maps were overlaid by using Algebra multiplication operation. Finally, the map of suitable places for Artificial recharge was produced. As the result, the susceptible and insusceptible areas of Artificial recharge were calculated as 2104.57 (17.33 percent) and 10036.53 hectares (82.67 percent), respectively.

An Artificial recharge project was implemented in Idje, in southern Iran. Silt free water from a few karst springs was diverted to 13 recharge basins during the wet periods. The performance of the project was evaluated by measuring the basic infiltration rate at several stages: daily inflow, depth of sediment accumulation on the basin floor and the depth of water table in a well, downstream of the project site. Major ions, calcite saturation index and carbon dioxide partial pressures of water samples were also determined. The data obtained during one recharge season indicate: I. The area of the recharge basins significantly depended on the basic infiltration rate II. Point measurement of infiltration rate by the double ring method was not representative of the field. Measurement of the infiltration rate by the water balance method is recommended in a pilot basin with similar side slopes and water depths III. Silt free karst spring water is suitable for Artificial recharge IV. Floodwater in excess of the design discharge produced several problems such as destruction of a few banks, settlement of suspended material and inundation of downstream farms A successful recharge project should follow the designed criteria during both the construction and operation stages. Overall, most of the designed parameters were of acceptable range in the Idje project. Sediment accumulation and inundation of downstream farms could be prevented if water intake was limited to the base flow of the karst springs.

Growing population and increasing water resources demand have caused to slump groundwater level in many plains. Therefore there is a necessary to improve the quantity and quality of the aquifers. One of the most important methods to increase water table in recent decade is groundwater Artificial recharge. The main objective of this study is to select sites more suitable for groundwater Artificial recharge in Ravansar plain. In view of this, the raster map layers of criteria including geology, slope, alluvial thickness, infiltration rate, permeability, erodibility, land use, percent of silt and clay were prepared. Then each of these criteria was ranked using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and weighting liner component (WLC) methods for two Artificial recharge methods including flood spreading and spreading basin. The results showed that based on the selected indicators and the zonation map in two methods, the best sites located in northern, northeastern and southwestern of the study area and fluvial fans adapted with the best sites for groundwater Artificial recharge.

In recent years, surface water resources in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province have decreased and groundwater level has fallen down. Thus, groundwater must be strengthened by surface water resources. The objective of this search was identification of Artificial recharge sites thorough Fuzzy Logic in Shahrekord Basin. Effective factors in ground water recharge such as slope, infiltration rate, thickness of unsaturated zone, surface water EC, land use and stream network were determined. They were classified, weighted in software packages Arc View 3.2a and Arc GIS 9.3 and they were integrated using multiplying operator in fuzzy model. The obtained results showed 4.79 % of all areas are suitable and 17.94 % are somewhat suitable in this method. To include the effect of land use parameter, it was overlaid on the final maps, showing a decrease in suitable areas up to 1/3. Generally about 30 points were introduced with priorities A, B, AB as having potential for Artificial recharge.

During recent years, high exploitation from the aquifer declines the quantity and quality of this water resource. In this regard, it seems that the hydrogeology cal management studies are needed for this aquifer. Hydro geological aspects of the Kalachoo plain are studied using the results of the pumping test, geological logs of the observation and exploration wells, and field observation. The unit hydrograph of the aquifer is drowning using the information of the 12 observation wells. Because of non suitable distribution of observation wells, central part of the plain is selected for model design.Then water level through October 2002 is selected for steady state condition in the aquifer at (2002-2004). Using the available data, needed packages by VISUAL MODFLOW 2.6 are completed and conceptual model is constructed. Then this conceptual model is calibrated, manually, for steady state condition while the considered parameters are hydraulic conductivity, inflow and outflow of margins as virtual wells. In order to optimize the value of specific yields and recharge parameters, calibration process is continued under unsteady state condition. Calibration period length is one year (October 2002 to October 2003). Model verification is performed for five years. Verification results indicate that the calibration model is capable for management practices. After the Artificial recharge on the Tang-e-Hygoon and Tang-e-Sapoo in model, the result has been showed the positive effects on the recovery of ground water level in Kalacho plain.

Over-exploitation from Goharkuh plain aquifer, southwest of Zahedan, resulted in water table drawdown. In order to assessing the effect of Artificial recharge, numerical model of groundwater flow of the aquifer was developed. Well loges, hydrogeologic parameters, pizometric heads and results of pumping tests were used in this study. The flow model is well calibrated and used to simulate future water level fluctuations. Steady state condition has been considered in January of 2003 because of low fluctuation in groundwater level in this period. The Sensivity analysis related to a few parameters and verification for period of February of 2004 to February of 2005 has performed. The results indicate that groundwater level is reducing in Goharkuh plain aquifer. Maximum drawdown occurs in the east part of the aquifer. Aquifer reaction has been assessed by definition of different scenarios to identify the best location for Artificial recharge. Based on the result, the north part of the aquifer (close to pizometer P9) is the best location for performing Artificial recharge.