Spatial Optimization of the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Network in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Abstract

Groundwater resource development, management, and planning essentially rely on their quantitative and qualitative monitoring. The information obtained from the monitoring networks of a given groundwater resource is used as a significant indicator for the status of that resource, and management schemes are subsequently made in order to develop and utilize this resource on a sustainable basis. In this study, the performance of the existing monitoring network of the quality of groundwater in Bahrain was evaluated and was spatially optimized using the geostatistical method of kriging. The estimation variance was used as a criterium in the design process, and variance reduction was used to measure the network performance. The process resulted in an increase in the number of observation points from 15 currently monitored wells to 91 wells, with 74% of these being augmented industrial and commercial wells that were to be self-reported to internalize the cost of groundwater management in their users. It is recommended that temporal optimization procedures for the groundwater level are conducted and that monitored groundwater quality data are stored in a dedicated groundwater management information system (MIS) along with the monitored data of groundwater levels and abstraction to effectively support the process of decision making for groundwater planning and management.