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REMOTE ASSESSMENT OF SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER RESOURCES USING KAREZES (QANATS) NW OFKANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN

Rodney Stevens, Carlos Duque, Abdul Karim, Abdul Hassan Lashkaryee, Laila Zareef

Abstract

Karezes represent a sustainable water supply since their discharge is regulated by the natural groundwater renewal in the mountains and on upslope surfaces in the valleys. Although most karezes have become inactive due to lowered groundwater levels, they can still be used together with other accessible information sources to initially and remotely interpret basin geohydrology and the groundwater resources when they were constructed (and today if still active). This is mainly done by using karezes to map the depth and slope of the groundwater table. Also, spatial and temporal changes in the water supply from karezes can indicate changing climatic and anthropogenic influences on groundwater resources. The aim of this paper is to present an approach that combines the ?karez archive? of hydrogeological information with other, assessable information sources, such as topographic and climatic databases. Endemic knowledge is stressed as an importance and practical verification of the assessment, as well as a crucial component of the applications toward sustainable water management. The basin-specific conditions interpreted are most important in regions with poor data control for modeling basin hydrology. The characterization and combination of information sources is exemplified using karezes NW of Kandahar, Afghanistan.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2021v/3.2/s12.21

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