Assessment of the Groundwater Rehabilitation and Balancing with Emphasis on Smart Meters in Shahriar Plain

Increasing exploitation of groundwater has caused problems such as water table drops and declining in the country's aquifer storage volume.  The multiplicity of these problems has led to various programs for rehabilitating and balancing of groundwater resources. One of these strategies is to install a smart meter on the exploitation wells. Shahriar plain aquifer is one of the aquifers in Iran which has caused numerous problems in this aquifer. In this study, after examining the characteristics of the Shahriar plain aquifer and monthly changes in groundwater level in the statistical course from 2011 to 2019, the effect of installing a smart meter on groundwater level fluctuations was analyzed. The study area was divided into three sections with a high number, medium, and low smart meter installations. A separate representative hydrograph was prepared for each section. The results of the analysis of maps and hydrographs indicated that in the period after installing the smart meter, the slope of groundwater level fluctuations in the area with a high number of smart meters is similar to the slope and the trend of groundwater level fluctuations in the area with a low number of smart meters; Therefore, installing smart meters on exploitation wells, through current methods and policies, cannot be a suitable approach for sustainable management of groundwater resources; Because installing smart meter without limiting the amount of overdraft does not have a positive effect on aquifer regeneration and balancing. In this research, other balancing measures performed in the study area were reviewed.