Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169

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Journal of African Earth Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jafrearsci

Identification of potential artificial groundwater recharge zones in

Northwestern Saudi Arabia using GIS and Boolean logic
Faisal K. Zaidi a, b, *, Yousef Nazzal c, Izrar Ahmed d, Muhammad Naeem a,
Muhammad Kamran Jafri a
a
Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
b
SGS Research Chair for Natural Hazards, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
c
Department of Applied Mathematics and Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates
d
Environment Department, Dubai Municipality, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Identifying potential groundwater recharge zones is a pre-requisite for any artificial recharge project. The
Received 11 February 2015 present study focuses on identifying the potential zones of Artificial Groundwater Recharge (AGR) in
Received in revised form Northwestern Saudi Arabia. Parameters including slope, soil texture, vadose zone thickness, groundwater
4 July 2015
quality (TDS) and type of water bearing formation were integrated in a GIS environment using Boolean
Accepted 7 July 2015
logic. The results showed that 17.90% of the total studied area is suitable for AGR. The identified zones
Available online 17 July 2015
were integrated with the land use/land cover map to avoid agricultural and inhabited lands which
reduced the total potential area to 14.24%. Geomorphologically the wadi beds are the most suitable sites
Keywords:
Arid regions
for recharge. On the basis of the potential AGR zones closeness to the available recharge water supply
Saudi Arabia (rain water, desalinated sea water and treated waste water) the potential zones were classified as
Artificial groundwater recharge Category A (high priority) and Category B (low priority).
GIS and Boolean logic © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Overexploitation and mismanagement of the available fresh-
water resources coupled with the advancement in the field of
drilling technologies and availability of cheap power have led to a
condition where aquifers are now being exploited at rates far in
excess of natural recharge. This situation is particularly true in the
arid and semi-arid areas of the world. Overexploitation of the
available water resources have already led to rapidly declining
groundwater levels, saline water intrusions, land subsidence and
droughts across many regions on the planet (Falkenmark and
Lundqvist, 1997; Tsakiris, 2004; Qi and Luo, 2006). Global water
scarcity studies carried out by different workers indicate that
approximately two thirds of the world population will be affected
by water scarcity in the next few decades (Alcamo et al., 2000;
Wallace and Gregory, 2002).
The normal groundwater recharge from precipitation is
dependent on the climatic conditions (including the amount and
* Corresponding author. Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Sci-
ence, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
E-mail address: fzaidi@ksu.edu.sa (F.K. Zaidi).
intensity of precipitation), geology and land use pattern of the area.
Natural recharge varies between 0 and 2% of the total precipitation
in dry regions as opposed to 30e50% in temperate humid climates
(Bouwer, 2002). The low rainfall and high evaporation rates result
in a practically negligible recharge from precipitation in arid area
(Qin et al., 2011).
The ever increasing population which is linked with the in-
dustrial development, urbanization and food security, have directly
contributed to the increasing water demands in the Arab region
(Khouri, 2003). In the absence of plentiful surface water supplies,
groundwater resources form the single most important source of
fresh water supplies in these regions (Scanlon et al., 2006; Zaidi and
Kassem, 2012; Kolsi et al., 2013). According to the Saudi Arabia
MoWE 2014 reports, approximately 21.1 billion cubic meters of
groundwater were extracted in the kingdom during the year 2012
of which approximately 81% of the water was used in agriculture.
The situation gets more alarming considering the fact that most of
these water resources are derived from the non-renewable
groundwater reserves. Excessive abstraction of groundwater from
these sedimentary aquifers also makes them vulnerable to pollu-
tion from anthropogenic sources (Ahmed et al., 2015) which further
restricting its availability.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.07.008
1464-343X/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169 157

Fig. 1. Map showing the study area location and geology.

Table 1
Stratigraphic succession of the study area (after Laboun, 2013; Al-Dabbagh, 2013).

Age Formation Generalized geology Average thickness

(m)

Cenozoic Quaternary Quaternary Eolian Calcareous, silty sandstone, sandy limestone; local chert
Deposits
Neogene Harrats Basaltic Lava Flows <560
Paleogene Mira-Umm Wual Limestone and Cherts 135e200
Formation
Paleogene Ummer Radhuma Limestone, dolomitic limestone and dolomite 220e230
Mesozoic Upper Cretaceous Aruma Limestone; subordinate dolomite and shale 150e165
Upper Cretaceous Wasia Sandstone; subordinate shale 42e125
Middle Cretaceous Biyadh Sandstone; subordinate shale 400
Upper Jurassic Hith Anhydrite 71
Upper Jurassic Arab Calcarenite, calcarenitic and aphanitic limestone, dolomite and some anhydrite 128
Upper Jurassic Jubaila Aphanitic limestone and dolomite; subordinate calcarenite and calcarenitic 110
limestone
Middle Jurassic Hanifa Aphanitic limestone, calcarenitic limestone and calcarenite 100e140
Middle Jurassic Tuwaiq Aphanitic limestone; subordinate calcarenite and calcarenitic limestone 215
Lower Jurassic Dhruma Aphanitic limestone and shale; subordinate calcarenite 375
Lower Jurassic Marrat Shale and aphanitic limestone; subordinate sandstone 111
Upper Triassic Minjur Sandstone, aphanitic limestone and shale; subordinate gypsum 315
Middle/Upper Jilh Sandstone, aphanitic limestone and shale; subordinate gypsum 307
Triassic
Lower Triassic Sudair Red and Green shale 116
Palaeozoic Upper Permian Khuff Limestone and shale 170
Lower Permian Unayzah Sandstone 80e85
Carboniferous Berwath Siltstone 190e270
Upper Devonian Jubah Sandstone 300e410
Devonian Jauf Limestone, shale and sandstone 270e280
Lower Devonian Tawil Sandstone 230e250
Upper Silurian Qalibah Shale, sandstone and siltstone 450
Ordovician/Silurian Tabuk Sandstone and shale 140e160
Ordovician Qassim Sandstone and shale 260
Cambrian/ Saq Sandstone 400e930
Ordovician
Pre- Basement Genissic gray granites; subordinate younger granites
Cambrian
158 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169
Fig. 2. Groundwater abstraction for different aquifer units in the study area for the
year 2005 (from MoWE, 2008).
Water resource management plans require effective manage-
ment of aquifer recharge (Gale, 2005) so as to reduce the gap be-
tween water availability and water demand. This has re-established
the context and relevance of centuries old practices of aquifer
replenishment through artificial recharge and is gaining signifi-
cance all over the world (Al-Assa'd and Abdulla, 2010; Sargaonkar
et al., 2011; Rahimi et al., 2014; Massuel et al., 2014). Artificial
Groundwater Recharge (AGR) is an effective technique of aug-
menting the available groundwater resources, thus avoiding the
water (from rain, desalination or treated waste water) to be lost to
the sea or by evaporation (Bouri and Dhia, 2010).
In arid countries like Saudi Arabia where there is very limited
availability of surface water and heavy dependence on ground-
water, AGR becomes even more important. However the success of
any AGR project depends upon the precise selection of the AGR
sites. Proper site selection for effective AGR requires a number of
climatological, geological and hydrogeological factors to be
Fig. 3. Piezometric map for the study area (Values are in meters above mean sea level).
considered which can be integrated in a GIS using the built in al-
gorithms. GIS is an effective tool where layered information from
different thematic maps can be integrated quickly and can be used
for identifying the potential recharge zones (Ghayoumian et al.,
2007; Al Saud, 2010; Chenini et al., 2010; Machiwal et al., 2011;
Malekmohammadi et al., 2012; Hammouri et al., 2013).
The objective of the present study was to integrate the thematic
maps of the various factors such as the terrain slope (degree), soil
texture, depth of vadose zone, type of water bearing formation,
groundwater quality (Total Dissolved Solids) and land use/land cover
in a GIS environment using Boolean logic to determine the zones
most suitable for AGR in the Northwestern part of Saudi Arabia.
2. Study area description
The study area (Fig. 1) is located between latitudes 24
N and
32
N and longitude 36
E and 44
E and covers the northwestern
part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, covering an approximate area
of 375,000 km2.
2.1. Climate and topography
The climate in the north and northwestern part of Saudi Arabia
is arid with low annual rainfall. The rainfall ranges from less than
30 mm/year in the western part of the study area (Tabuk) to
170 mm/year in the southeastern part. The low rainfall coupled
with high evapotranspiration (approximately 2400 mm/year) re-
sults in negligible groundwater recharge except in areas where
concentration of runoff water coincides with favorable infiltration
characteristics of the surface layers. The temperature ranges from
43
C to 48
C during daytime and 32e36
C during night time in
summer. In winter, it sometime falls to 0
C.
The highest elevations are encountered in the mountains along
the western boundary of the study area bordering Jordan, with
elevations exceeding 1800 m. These terrains along the western
Fig. 4. Flowchart of the adopted methodology.

Fig. 5. Slope map of the study area.

160 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169
boundary of the Saq Basin are bordered by valleys with flat
topography having elevations around 800 m. More than 85% of the
study area is characterized by flat topography, gently dipping
eastward with elevations ranging from 900 m in the west to less
than 400 m along the eastern boundary.
2.2. Geology and hydrogeological framework
The Arabian Peninsula can be divided into two main geologic
units, a western part comprising of Pre Cambrian basement rocks
known as the Arabian shield and an eastern part consisting of
gradually thickening Phanerozic sedimentary sequence from west
to east known as the Arabian Platform (Şeber and Mitchel, 1992;
Rodgers et al., 1999). The Saq Sandstone is found at the base of
the sedimentary sequence and crops out in a strip unconformably
overlying the basement, (Fig. 1). Moving away from the contact
with the basement towards the east, the overlying formations
appear one after the other in chronological order (Powers et al.,
1966). The Cambro-Ordovician Saq formation comprising mainly
of medium to coarse sandstones and ranging in thickness from 400
to 928 m forms the major aquifer system in Northern Saudi Arabia
(Alsharhan et al., 2001) and covers the entire area in the present
study. Table 1 shows the generalized geological succession of the
study area.
The study area is represented by a typical multilayered aquifer
system with the Saq formation being the most prolific source of
large scale water supply, though it is not the only aquifer which is
exploited in the region. Depending upon the thickness, hydraulic
Fig. 6. Soil texture map.
characteristics, water quality and aquifer type (confined or un-
confined) other aquifer units exposed in the area are also exploited.
Individual farmers are able to satisfy their water demands for small
scale agricultural activities by drilling wells ranging from 100 to
150 m in depth tapping geological formations which act as local
aquifers. Most of the aquifers are exploited in parts where they
occur in the unconfined conditions. In all there are seven aquifers or
aquifer groups and from bottom to top they include:
 Saq Sandstone
 Kahfah sandstone (Qassim Formation)
 Quwarah (Qassim Formation) e Sarah sandstones (Tabuk
Formation)
 Sharawra (Qalibah formation) and Tawil sandstones
 Jubah sandstone
 Khuff limestone
 Secondary (Mesozoic) -Tertiary e Quaternary (STQ) sandstone
and limestone.
Two layers act regionally as aquitards but they contain units that
are locally exploited as aquifer:
 Jauf limestone and sandstone,
 Unayzah and Berwath sandstones.
The groundwater extraction from different aquifer units are
presented in Fig. 2. From the figure it is evident that the Saq aquifer
forms the most important source of water supply, though other
 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169
Fig. 7. a Vadose zone thickness map b Cross-section showing the thickness of vadose zone along AA0 and BB0 .

161
162 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169
aquifers are also locally important. The piezometric contour in the
study area is shown in Fig. 3. The wells (black dots in Fig. 3) in which
the water table measurements were taken are under unconfined
conditions. The water table in the region varies from 500 to 838 m
above mean sea level. In the western part of the study area the
general groundwater flow is from the south to north. The eastern
part of the study area is represented by a zone of several cones of
depression, corresponding to the high rate of groundwater
abstraction in the Qassim region.
3. Materials and methods
There are numerous factors that may influence the AGR such as
geology, climate, morphology, floods, land use and socio-economic
behaviors (Ghayoumian et al., 2005). In the present study six fac-
tors including slope, soil texture, vadose zone thickness, ground-
water quality (TDS), type of water bearing formation and land use
of the study area were used to define the most appropriate sites for
AGR. To achieve the desired results, multiple thematic maps were
prepared from available data sets from previous studies, remote-
sensing images and field investigations. Thematic layers for the
above mentioned parameters were generated, classified and com-
bined in a GIS environment by means of Boolean logic.
Boolean logical reasoning method is probably the most common
and simplest type of GIS model used for thematic layers integration.
Boole (1854) introduced this method for the first time with a binary
code classification system i.e. zero (unsatisfactory) and one (satis-
factory). Boolean logic has its own operators which are AND, OR,
Fig. 8. Groundwater Quality (TDS distribution map) with well location map.
NOT, and XOR. Since the present research deals with integration of
different thematic layers therefore AND Boolean operator was used.
First time Boolean operation was used to prepare geological the-
matic maps by Robinov (1989). According to Bonham-Carter (1994)
Boolean modeling technique involves the logical combination of
binary maps resulting from the application of conditional opera-
tors. Boolean helps to logically integrate various layers of evidence
to support an assumption, or proposition. This technique also has
some drawbacks such as failure to consider some cases including
priority of the factors, internal changes in each parameter, error in
defining the conceptual model and the layers-error
(Alimohammadi, 2006; Mahdavi et al., 2011). The delineation of
the potential recharge zones based on Boolean logic in this study
was restricted only to the unconfined aquifers. The flow chart
showing the adopted methodology has been presented in Fig. 4.
4. Results and discussion
Six factors were considered for identifying the potential artificial
recharge zones in the study area based on Boolean logic. The details
of the factors and the suitable and unsuitable values for each of the
factors have been discussed in the following sections.
4.1. Slope
Terrain slope is one of the major factors to discriminate the
surface morphology (Flat lands & High lands) of an area. It directly
governs surface runoff, erosion and material transport. Water
 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169
Fig. 9. Map showing the type of water bearing formation in the study area.
infiltration capacity is a function of the slope i.e maximum where
the slope is minimum and vice versa (Daher et al., 2011). Most of
the study area consists of flat land and sand dunes. Digital Elevation
Model (DEM) with 90 m resolution acquired from SRTM was used
to generate slope map using ArcGIS 10.2. On the slope map, slopes
are classified into five broad classes, (Fig. 5). For the Boolean
calculation, areas having a slope of less than 5
were considered
suitable for artificial recharge and areas having slope in excess of 5

were considered unsuitable.
4.2. Soil texture
An important factor controlling recharge is the surface soil
permeability. Areas of low relief (flat lands) coupled with low
permeability will result in the ponding of water and eventually will
be lost due to evaporation as a result of the extremely arid condi-
tions prevailing in the region. Permeability greatly depends on soil
characteristics (texture and structure), land cover, and slope. Other
things such as land cover and slope being the same, soil perme-
ability depends on the soil texture and soil structure. Soil perme-
ability in the unsaturated zone is dependent on the soil texture and
is one of the most crucial factors governing groundwater recharge
(Jang et al., 2013). Water Atlas of Saudi Arabia (1984) was the source
for obtaining the soil texture map (Fig. 6). The texture map incor-
porated the factors such as soil thickness, soil type, soil use, avail-
able water capacity and hydraulic conductivity. Based on the soil
texture map, loamy/rocky and sandy/clay type of soils were clas-
sified as unsuitable for groundwater recharge whereas loamy,
163
loamy/sandy and sandy soils were classified as suitable.
4.3. Vadose zone thickness/depth to water table
The thickness of the vadose zone which is the zone between the
surface elevation and the piezometric elevation was calculated and
is shown in Fig. 7a. The cross-sections along AA0 and BB0 shows the
variation in the vadose zone thickness in the study area (Fig. 7b).
Recharge rates show a decrease with the increasing depth to water
table (greater thickness of vadose zone) (Healy, 2010). A shallow
vadose zone without intercalated impermeable layers is ideal for
groundwater recharge as it reduces the travel time for the perco-
lating recharge water to reach the water table (Bouwer, 2002).
However some studies have shown that a greater vadose zone
thickness provides sufficient storage space and allows the water to
move laterally rather than vertically after reaching the water table,
(Flint and Ellet, 2004; Izbicki et al., 2008). A shallow vadose zone if
considered for AGR may also result in water logged conditions
(Ghayoumian et al., 2005). To avoid water logged conditions in
areas of shallow water table and at the same time to reduce the
travel time of percolating water to join the water table at greater
depths, a thickness of vadose zone between 20 and 140 m was
considered as suitable. Areas having vadose zone thickness of less
than 20 m and greater than 140 m were considered unsuitable.
4.4. Groundwater quality (TDS)
Rainfall is normally considered as the major source for
164 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169

Fig. 10. Land use/Land cover map.

Table 2
Thematic layers with their classes used in Boolean logic.

Thematic layers Classes Ranges Boolean binary weight

Slope (degree) Suitable 0e5 1

Unsuitable More than 5 0
Soil Texture Suitable Loamy 1
Loamy/Sandy
Sandy
Unsuitable Loamy/Rocky 0
Sandy/Clay
Vadose Zone thickness (m) Suitable 20e140 1
Unsuitable 0e20 0
>140
Ambient groundwater quality, TDS(mg/l) Suitable Less than 600 (log2 transformed value 9.23) 1
Unsuitable More than 600 (log2 transformed value 9.23) 0
Type of water bearing formation Suitable Aquifer 1
Unsuitable Aquiclude 0
Aquitard
Land use/Land cover Suitable Sand dune Barren soil 1
Unsuitable Urban Barren rocks Agriculture 0

recharging groundwater. This water percolates all the way through
surface soils to the subsurface rocks and finally makes it way to the
aquifer. Due to the interaction of the percolating water with the
earth material, the water quality is likely to change as the water is
capable of dissolving many minerals present in the soils and rocks
through which it passes. Therefore, the quality of the groundwater
is an essential parameter to be considered for AGR and was
investigated alongside other parameters. To quantify the nature of
groundwater the total dissolved solids (TDS) was considered as
basic criteria for quality assessment. TDS distribution maps were
prepared from TDS measurements taken in 295 wells in the study
area.
Studies have shown that artificial recharge can help in
improvement of the groundwater quality (Szucs et al., 2009;
Andrade, 2012). However in the present study, keeping in mind
the limited availability of recharge water (either from rains,
 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169 165

Fig. 11. AGR suitable sites without land use/land cover layer obtained by using AND Boolean operator.

Fig. 12. Area suitability bar chart for AGR with and without considering the land use/land cover.

desalination or waste water) the focus was more on replenishing
the groundwater resources rather than improving the groundwater
quality. Fig. 8 shows the TDS distribution map for the area (trans-
formed to log base 2 for its ease of integration with other param-
eters using Boolean logic) which has been divided into 5 classes. To
strike a balance between the groundwater quality and aquifer
replenishment, only those areas showing TDS concentrations of
less than 600 mg/l were designated as suitable for artificial
recharge whereas the areas having TDS concentration in excess of
600 mg/l were classified as unsuitable in the Boolean calculations.
166 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169
Fig. 13. AGR suitable sites considering the land use/land cover.
4.5. Type of water bearing formation
The characteristic of water bearing formation where the
recharged water will be stored is an important factor to be
considered in any artificial recharge feasibility studies (Bouwer,
2002). If the geological formation does not have enough perme-
ability and storativity, it may lead to ineffective groundwater
recharge. Considering this factor the surface outcrops of the
geological formations in the area was classified as aquifer, aquitard
and aquiclude, (Fig. 9) based on lithology information of the drilled
wells from earlier studies and geological maps. The areas covered
by the aquifer were considered as suitable whereas the areas
covered by aquiclude and aquitard were considered unsuitable for
groundwater recharge.
4.6. Land use/land cover
To address the human intervention related to AGR, a separate
parameter called Land Use/Land Cover (LU/LC) was investigated.
Agricultural developments can enhance groundwater recharge
(Allison et al., 1990). At the same time changes in LU/LC can alter
the recharge rates which can have negative impacts on ground-
water quality, especially in arid and semi-arid regions (Walvoord
et al., 2003; Scanlon et al., 2005). LU/LC map for the study area
was prepared from the satellite image (MOD09A1 data) for January
2014. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) Surface MOD09A1 provides Bands 1e7 at 500 m resolu-
tion in an 8 day gridded level-3 product in the Sinusoidal projec-
tion. Subsequently it was divided in to 5 major classes based on the
NDVI values (Fig. 10). The potential artificial recharge zones falling
within agricultural and urban areas were discarded and therefore
classified as unsuitable. The areas occupied by rocky outcrops
(barren rocks) were also designated as unsuitable. Sand dunes and
barren soils (unaffected by urbanization or agricultural activities)
were designated as suitable zones.
Thematic maps of all the above discussed parameters were in-
tegrated to generate the final potential zones of artificial ground-
water recharge. Feasibility of these AGR sites was further analyzed
based on the availability of nearby water source. The possible water
sources for AGR in the current study were identified as natural
streams, desalination plants and sewage treatment plants.
5. Classification and integration of thematic layers using
Boolean logic
There are different methods for logical reasoning, classification
and integration of thematic layers. In current research Boolean logic
is adopted to reclassify the integrated maps in to suitable and un-
suitable classes for AGR. Zero and unity value was assigned to un-
suitable and suitable areas respectively.
The thematic layers are classified and their binary logical map
was developed using Boolean logic in GIS environment (Table 2).
Slope (degree), soil texture, vadose zone thickness, groundwater
quality (TDS) and type of water bearing formation were used as the
basic input for Boolean operations. The land use/land cover map
was used as a filter map to avoid urban and agricultural area. After
producing layers of individual parameters by application of Boolean
binary logic (0 for unsuitable zones and 1 for suitable zones), AND
 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169 167

Fig. 14. Superimposed map of geomorphological units and AGR suitable sites (without considering land use).

Fig. 15. Area suitability bar chart for AGR sites with respect to geomorphological units.

operator was used to combine all thematic layers to render the final
potential AGR sites.
5.1. Boolean result discussion
Thematic layers given in the Table 2 were combined using the
AND operator and finally a map of potential areas for AGR was
obtained. Initially, 5 thematic layers were combined without the
LU/LC layer (Fig. 11) which resulted in the suitability of 17.90% of the
total area under study as potential zones for AGR, (Fig. 12). Next the
LU/LC thematic layer was integrated with the other 5 layers and the
identified potential zones for AGR is given in Fig. 13. Due to addition
168 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169
Fig. 16. AGR sites selection based on the proximity analysis.
of land use/land cover filter the final AGR suitable area decreased to
14.24%. Therefore, it is concluded that out of the total 17.90% area
suitable for AGR, 3.66% is restricted by the LU/LC (Fig. 12). The map
of the geomorphologic units in the study area (Fig. 14) was super-
imposed on the identified potential AGR zone (without considering
LU/LC). The graphical representation (Fig. 15) shows that the wadi
beds occupy the maximum share of AGR potential sites followed by
the highlands, low lands and sand dunes.
Finally a proximity analysis was carried out based on the prox-
imity of the identified potential AGR zone (considering LU/LC) to
the drainage network, desalination plants and sewage treatment
plants. Based on this map the AGR potential sites were further
classified into categories “A” & “B”. Category “A” refers to the sites
which are closer to the available recharge water sources (Stream
network, Desalination & Sewage Plants) and are given a higher
priority while considering AGR. Category “B” refers to the recharge
sites which are situated farther away from the available recharge
water sources (Fig. 16) and have a lesser priority than category A
when considering AGR experiments.
6. Conclusion
Thematic maps of the various parameters such as slope, soil
texture, vadose zone thickness, groundwater quality (TDS) and type
of water bearing formation were integrated in GIS using Boolean
logic to classify the areas suitable for AGR in Northwestern Saudi
Arabia. The innovation in the present study was to integrate the land
use pattern with the other parameters so as to filter out the agri-
cultural and urban areas in the final consideration of the suitable
sites. The study reveals that 17.90% of the total study area was suit-
able for recharge without taking in consideration the land use/land
cover pattern. However integration of the land use in the final result
reduced the areas suitable for recharge to 14.24%. Taking into account
the geomorphic units it was found that the wadi beds are most
suitable for AGR whereas the sand dunes have the minimum po-
tential for AGR. Since the rainfall in the region is very limited, arti-
ficial recharge of groundwater cannot be restricted only to rainwater
recharge. Other sources such as treated waste water and excess
desalinated sea water are also considered as the potential sources of
recharging groundwater. This will not only help in replenishing the
groundwater reserves but also prevent evaporation losses if other-
wise they are discharged in the open valleys. The final output map of
the suitable recharge sites were further categorized into A and B
depending on their proximity to stream networks, sewage treatment
plants and desalination plants; Category A being closer to the sources
of recharge water was given a higher priority.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by NSTIP strategic technologies
program number (12-WAT 2453-02) in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia.
 F.K. Zaidi et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 156e169 169

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