AUTHOR ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT FINAL PUBLICATION INFORMATION Estimating Current and Future Groundwater Resources of the Maldives The definitive version of the text was subsequently published in Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 51(1), 2015-02 Published by Wiley and found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jawr.12236 THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION OF THIS MANUSCRIPT IS AVAILABLE ON THE PUBLISHER’S PLATFORM This Author Accepted Manuscript is copyrighted by World Bank and published by Wiley. It is posted here by agreement between them. Changes resulting from the publishing process—such as editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms—may not be reflected in this version of the text. You may download, copy, and distribute this Author Accepted Manuscript for noncommercial purposes. 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Bailey, Abedalrazq Khalil, Vansa Chatikavanij 6 7 Respectively: 8 Assistant Professor (Bailey), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado 9 State University, 1372 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523; 10 Water Specialist (Khalil), The World Bank Group, Washington D.C., 20433; 11 Water Specialist (Chatikavanij), The World Bank Group, Washington D.C., 20433; 12 (E-Mail/Bailey: [email protected]) 13 14 15 16 17 18 April 2014 19 20 21 Please print all color graphics in B&W and show in color online. 22 23 Re-submitted to: Journal of the American Water Resources Association 1 24 ABSTRACT 25 The water resources of the atolls of the Republic of Maldives are under continual threat from 26 climatic and anthropogenic stresses, including land surface pollution, increasing population, 27 drought, and sea-level rise. These threats are particularly acute for groundwater resources due to 28 the small land surface area and low elevation of each island. In this study the groundwater 29 resources, in terms of freshwater lens thickness, total volume of fresh groundwater, and safe 30 yield are estimated for the 52 most populous islands of the Maldives for current conditions and 31 for the year 2030, with the latter accounting for projected sea-level rise and associated shoreline 32 recession. An algebraic model, designed in previous studies to estimate the lens thickness of atoll 33 islands, is expanded in this study to also estimate volume of groundwater. Results indicate that 34 average current lens thickness, groundwater volume, and per capita safe yield is approximately 35 4.6 m, 1300 ML (million liters), and 300 L/day, and that these values will decrease by 36 approximately 10%, 11%, and 34%, respectively, by the year 2030. Based on results, it is 37 demonstrated that groundwater, in terms of quantity, is a viable source of water for the islands of 38 the Maldives both now and in coming decades, particularly for islands with large surface area 39 and low population. Study results can provide water resource managers and government officials 40 with valuable data for consideration in water security measures. 41 42 43 44 45 Key Terms 46 Groundwater hydrology, Water supply, Climate variability/change , Drinking water 2 47 INTRODUCTION 48 The Republic of Maldives, comprised of about 200 inhabited small coral atoll islands in the 49 Indian Ocean and with a total population of 320,000, faces serious immediate and future water 50 security issues that threaten the sustainability of island resources. Specific security issues 51 regarding water quantity and water quality include salinization of groundwater due to sudden 52 climatic events, such as the 2004 tsunami (Woodroffe, 2008; Barthiban et al., 2012); current and 53 impending climatic events, such as sea-level rise (SLR) and associated shoreline recession and 54 coastal degradation (Pernetta, 1992; Khan et al., 2002; Lal et al., 2002; Mörner et al., 2004; 55 Woodworth, 2005; Woodroffe, 2008); an increasing urban population resulting in contamination 56 of aquifers by human and animal waste; and limited rainwater harvesting capacity. Furthermore, 57 high costs and financial constraints prohibit wide-spread use of technological solutions such as 58 desalinization (Sovacool, 2012). 59 Of principal concern is the threat to the groundwater supply, a historically important source 60 of potable water for the population of the Maldives. Due to small land surface areas and the 61 existence of a dual aquifer system that limits the thickness of the freshwater lens, groundwater is 62 naturally a fragile resource for atoll island communities in terms of water quantity (White et al., 63 2007; White & Falkland, 2010). Furthermore, extremely low ground surface elevations (< 2-3 m 64 on average) and the resulting thin layer of soil between the ground surface and the water table 65 permits rapid advection of land surface derived pollution to the freshwater lens (Dillon, 1999). 66 With a projected 60% increase in the number of households by 2033, groundwater pollution is 67 and will continue to be a critical issue. SLR also is a particularly acute problem for groundwater 68 quality, as an increasing sea level decreases the land surface of the island, thereby decreasing the 69 spatial extent and thickness of the freshwater lens. 3 70 Despite these concerns, and although several islands have experienced groundwater pollution 71 and depletion due to over-population and a general lack of water system infrastructure (Ibrahim 72 et al., 2002), there are numerous islands, inhabited and otherwise, that likely have vast reserves 73 of uncontaminated fresh groundwater due to adequate land surface area and relatively small 74 populations. However, there exists a general lack of knowledge concerning quality and safety of 75 island groundwater sources. Indeed, a number of islands rely on annual deliveries of desalinated 76 of water from the capital city of Male’ to meet water demand during the dry season. Hence, a 77 general effort to accurately estimate the available groundwater resources of the islands is desired. 78 Although several recent efforts have quantified groundwater quantity for a select number of 79 islands (Falkland, 2000; Falkland, 2001; GWP Consultants, 2005; Bangladesh Consultants 80 2010a,b,c,d), a general baseline assessment of groundwater resources throughout the Republic of 81 Maldives is needed for planning and management purposes. 82 In this study, a recently developed algebraic model created for atoll island groundwater 83 systems (Bailey et al., 2010) is applied to the Maldives to estimate current (2012) and future 84 (2030) available groundwater resources. The model accounts for the principal features of atoll 85 island hydrogeology, including hydraulic conductivity and the depth to the solution 86 unconformity between the upper and lower aquifers, and has been applied successfully to atoll 87 islands in the Federated States of Micronesia (Bailey et al., 2013) to estimate freshwater lens 88 thickness, with model results compared against observed lens thickness values for corroboration. 89 This study applies the model to the 52 most populous islands of the Maldives to estimate 90 freshwater lens thickness, volume of available fresh groundwater, and safe yield. Estimates are 91 provided for current conditions (year 2012) and, using a range of predicted rates of SLR and 92 associated shore-line recession, for the year 2030. Whereas previous use of the model is 4 93 restricted to estimating lens thickness, this study presents a new method that uses the algebraic 94 model to estimate the volume of available groundwater. Model results are tested against 95 observed lens thickness and lens volume data provided from recent groundwater investigations 96 (Falkland, 2000; Falkland, 2001; GWP Consultants, 2005; Bangladesh Consultants 2010a,b,c,d). 97 Results provide water resource managers and policy makers within the Republic of Maldives 98 with reliable general groundwater evaluations that can be taken into account for current and 99 future water resource planning and management. 100 101 CLIMATE AND WATER RESOURCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALDIVES 102 Geography, Land, and Climate of the Maldives 103 The Republic of Maldives comprises a group of approximately 2000 coral islands, many of 104 which are grouped into 20 administrative atolls in a north-south geographic area of 105 approximately 90,000 km2 in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of India (Figure 1). The 106 geographic location of the Maldives is shown in Figure 1A, with a detailed map shown for Addu 107 Atoll in Figure 1B to show the general nature of atolls, with a group of small coral islands 108 surrounding an interior, shallow lagoon. It is estimated that the total actual land area of the 109 Maldives is only about 300 km2 (MEE, 2011), with 10% occupied by agricultural cultivated 110 land, 3% by forested land, 3% by pastures, and 84% by miscellaneous infrastructure and native 111 vegetation. The islands have extremely low elevations and small land surface areas. Average and 112 maximum ground surface elevation are 1.5 m and 2.4 m, respectively, and thirty-three of the 113 inhabited islands have a land surface area of less than 1 km2.