Experimental Study of Artificial Recharge of Unconfined Groundwater Aquifer for Elected Sites in Salahaddin, Iraq

The study aims to assess the efficiency and susceptibility of aquifers and geological formations in Salahaddin to store excess surface water in rainy and flood seasons, to be alternatives for surface aquifers and to achieve an increase in groundwater levels. Five sites that represent several hydrological basins have been selected for artificial recharge experiments, in which two types of experiments were conducted. In the first, the water was injected into the recharge well with monitoring the level in the same recharge well. In the second, water was injected into the recharge well and the water level was monitored in a close well to the recharge one. Test infusion experiments have been conducted in some locations, and data of water level drawdown was drawn in against time in the form of hydrographs, by using Excel program with attempting to analyze groundwater behavior and movement within the unsaturated layers of the aquifer. Then, the hydraulic properties have also been calculated in some locations from pumping tests or artificial recharge experiments and drawing the hydrograph curve using (Aquifer win32). The study concluded that all the aquifers, in which the artificial recharge experiments were carried out, were very efficient in their response to injections, with minor variations due to heterogeneity of porous media and the thickness of unsaturated zones, which cause different permeability between layers, and different hydraulic properties of aquifers.