Storage of water in aquifers using injection wells is an efficient way for utilizing excess desalinated water in arid regions. In this investigation we estimate the benefits of optimally recharging seasonal surplus desalinated water into a strategic coastal aquifer already benefitting from natural recharge of flash‐floods water by a recharge dam. Since, usually the buyers of desalinated water commit to purchase surplus desalinated water under take‐or‐pay contracts, any attempt in utilizing the paid water is beneficial. Coastal cities are observing an increased urbanization leaving limited space for aquifer recharge infrastructure. In order to determine the optimal location of wells and maximize the use of surplus desalinated water available in winter period, a decision tool combining a numerical groundwater flow simulation model (MODFLOW) with an optimization model is developed. The results of this study show that increasing the number of wells from the existing 45 wells to 173 would allow storing 31.4 million cubic meter per year of excess desalinated water into the aquifer that can be used during later during summer months. The net benefit would reach US$55 million/year while the cost of drilling the new wells is US$5.11 million.

中文翻译：

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沿海含水层中储存和回收淡化水的最佳井位

使用注入井将水储存在含水层中是在干旱地区利用过量淡化水的有效方法。在这项调查中，我们估算了将季节性过剩淡化水最佳地充填到战略性含水层中的好处，该战略性含水层已经受益于补给水坝对闪蒸水的自然补给。由于通常淡化水的购买者承诺根据“买或付”合同购买多余的淡化水，因此任何尝试使用有偿水都是有益的。沿海城市的城市化进程不断加快，为含水层补给基础设施留出了有限的空间。为了确定井的最佳位置并在冬季最大限度地利用多余的淡化水，开发了将数值地下水流模拟模型（MODFLOW）与优化模型相结合的决策工具。这项研究的结果表明，将井数从现有的45口增加到173口，每年可以将3140万立方米的多余淡化水存储到含水层中，并可以在夏季的后期使用。每年的净收益将达到5500万美元，而钻新井的成本为511万美元。