Title: Evaluation and forecasting groundwater consumption in Kuwait

Authors: Jasem M. Alhumoud; Fawzia M. Al-Ruwaih

Addresses: Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969, Safat, 13060, Kuwait ' Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait

Abstract: With rapid growth of population coupled with increasing urbanisation and agriculture, the demand for water in Kuwait is continually on the increase. The objective of this research is to analyse and forecast groundwater consumption in Kuwait. Al-Rowdhatain and Umm Al-Aish aquifers in the northern part of Kuwait are the only regions in the country that contain fresh groundwater. Total groundwater consumption in Kuwait has increased from 190 × 10⁶ imperial gallons (0.864 × 10⁶ m³) in 1954 to 18.5 × 10⁹ imperial gallons (84.1 × 10⁶ m³) in 2010, which represents a 97.4 fold increase. The Government of Kuwait heavily subsidises water production. While 1,000 imperial gallons (4,545 m³) of water costs the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) KD 3.21 (US$11.00) to produce, the customer is charged KD 0.8 (US$2.72) for it. Predictions of future groundwater consumption would help the government in its efforts to reform its subsidy policy. Our conclusions provide useful remarks on groundwater usage rationalisation and future investigation of groundwater resources in Kuwait and other arid regions.

Keywords: water demand; forecasting; Kuwait; groundwater consumption; acquifers; government subsidies; arid regions; fresh water.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2015.068948

International Journal of Water, 2015 Vol.9 No.2, pp.105 - 120

Received: 31 Oct 2012
Accepted: 15 Jan 2013
Published online: 30 Apr 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article