Project background

DeltaMAR is an NWO funded project that sets out to enhance fundamental knowledge on financial, institutional, environmental, technical, and social factors that influence the potential of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for safe drinking water provision in saline deltas, devoid of an adequate fresh water supply.

DeltaMAR is initiated and carried out by a consortium consisting of Utrecht University, Delft University of Technology, Dhaka University, and Acacia Water, in close collaboration with Unicef Bangladesh, and Bangladesh’s Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE).

The produced knowledge enables the elaboration of an integrated set of design, operation and governance criteria for optimal MAR performance, under varying socio-economic and hydrogeological conditions.

Optimal performance criteria, identified at the local level, are applied across scales to develop an evaluation method to identify suitable MAR implementation locations at the regional scale.

Project outcomes can be applied directly for the purpose of planning and the design of policies for the efficient and effective large-scale implementation of MAR systems in Bangladesh, and similar deltas elsewhere. To this end, a capacity building and a knowledge dissemination strategy will be formulated.