Groundwater resources in Qatar: A comprehensive review and informative recommendations for research, governance, and management in support of sustainability

Abstract

Qatar, Western Asia Groundwater is Qatar’s main conventional freshwater resource, its cornerstone for agricultural development, and its potential strategic water reserve. We review key literature on Qatar's groundwater resources published over the past four decades (1982–2022) in order to report the current knowledge of the country’s resources, update the understanding of the challenges they face, and recommend research-based pathways for their sustainable management. There is evidence that Qatar’s groundwater resources have been drastically depleted and qualitatively degraded mainly due to long-term over-exploitation. A longstanding ineffectiveness in addressing certain groundwater challenges such as groundwater over-abstraction and groundwater salinization was highlighted. The unsustainability of groundwater resources in the country can be attributed to a lack of understanding of the aquifer systems, the under-regulation of groundwater, and unsustainable agricultural practices. Therefore, to ensure the long-term availability and quality of groundwater in Qatar, it is crucial to: (i) enhance research efforts by improving data availability and accessibility, fostering multidisciplinary approaches and diversifying research methods, and addressing knowledge gaps, (ii) strengthen governance mechanisms by engaging the different stakeholders in the decision-making process to establish and enforce tangible groundwater use and protection policies and strategies, and (iii) adopt sustainable management practices for groundwater quantity and quality control.