Overexploitation of groundwater resources and regional subsidence: Case study of Damaneh city, Isfahan

One of the main reasons of regional subsidence is drawdown of groundwater level due to Overexploitation of aquifers which can lead to irrecoverable damage to soil deposits. The regional subsidence that has been inflicting Iran in recent years, have greatly damaged to agricultural sites, residential buildings, roads, power transmission lines, etc. The Damaneh City, located at west of Isfahan Province, has been affected by this phenomenon extensively. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the level of depletion of groundwater resources and subsequently land subsidence in this region. The results indicate that drawdown of groundwater level had a direct influence on the subsidence occurrence in the studied region. Considering that the studied area is one of the most important Isfahan's agricultural regions, the primary exploitation of aquifers is related to agricultural purposes. The results showed that water table has dropped 20 m in the Damaneh city during 1977-2014. Accord-ingly, it is essential to use artificial recharge and changing cultivation pattern to revive aquifer and also prevent damage induced by land subsidence.