Natural recharge and localization of fresh ground water in Kuwait

Abstract

Fresh ground water (200 parts per million total dissolved solids and upwards) occurs in portions of Pleistocene sandstone aquifers beneath basins and wadis in north Kuwait where the mean rainfall is about five inches per year. The fresh water is surrounded and underlain by brackish water (> 4000 ppm TDS). Drilling and testing show that fresh water saturation is restricted to wadis and basin areas; in Rawdatain basin it attains a maximum thickness of about 110 feet and a lateral extent of about seven miles. The fresh ground water represents recharge localized, during infrequent, torrential rain storms, in areas of concentrated runoff where sediments in the vadose zone are moderately permeable and depth to the water table is generally less than a hundred feet. Concentration of runoff appears to be the primary control in the localization of recharge. The fresh water percolates downward to the ground-water reservoir following rare storms, then flows in the direction of hydraulic gradient and gradually becomes brackish. Theoretical delineation of the recharge area and ground-water flow pattern in Rawdatain was confirmed by tritium and C 14 dating of the water. Brackish ground-water conditions prevail from water table downward in areas where rainfall infiltrates essentially where it falls, permeability of sediments in the vadose zone is low, or the water table is several hundred feet below land surface. In these areas, rainfall is retained and lost within the soil zone or becomes mineralized during deep percolation.