Groundwater Over- Exploitation in the Hashtbandi Plain the Province of Hormozgan its Consequences

The Hashtbandi Plain the Province of Hormozgan, is an arid and semiarid region. This plain is one of the major poles of agricultural products of the country. Which is dependent on the ground water resources. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quantity and quality of groundwater, identify and evaluate the consequences of indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater resources, and provide useful solutions in facing this problem Meteorological, hydrological, hydrogeological, and geographical data were collected and analyzed. Typical maps of groundwater chemical quality and iso-depth were prepared using the Surfer software. The drawdown of water level, reduction of storage volume and groundwater salinity changes were calculated in different areas of the plain. Qualitative and quantitative changes of groundwater aquifer are predicted for the next 10 years, using data from the past few years, assuming that the current trends of recharge and discharge of the aquifer is sustained. According to our calculations, the groundwater level has been consistently decreasing during the past years. The groundwater level has dropped 5.64 meters over a period of 11 years (2003–2014), with an annual average of 0.5 meter. The annual discharge of groundwater through wells is 40.09 Mm³, while the annual recharge was 38.89 Mm³, and therefore reduction of the storage volume has been 1.2 Mm³, per year. Results of this study showed that excessive exploitation of groundwater resources, followed by a series of problems such as changes in groundwater quality, increasing vulnerability to drought, land subsidence, change in the ecosystems and drying of fruit orchards. If the exploitation of groundwater resources continue at the current level in the study area, it is predicted that the groundwater levels will drop more than 8.4 meters over the next 10 years on average (until 2024). The amount of drop in groundwater level will reach more than 12 meters in the central part of plain, and this can cause social and economic and environmental crises in the region. Control of groundwater withdrawal, water pricing in agriculture, providing an optimal pattern with the soil and climatic conditions in the region, express problems and raise the level of knowledge of the beneficiaries are some of the management strategies, which have to be implemented if the water crisis is to be prevented.