Study of the drought status and its impact on groundwater resources: Case study, Hamadan, Iran

In recent year's climate changes account for extreme droughts, and one of the consequences of the drought is the reduction in groundwater levels. The present study was conducted to evaluate the drought status and its impact on the groundwater resources of Hamadan, Iran. This descriptive study data were collected from Water Affairs departments from 1987 to 2011. The study of the rainfall patterns over the past 25 years shows the large fluctuations in rainfall. The consequence of indiscriminate depletion of underground water resources is creating about 19 sinkholes in the plains. Over the past 50 years, about 320 villages have been uninhabited and the drinking water for 100 villages was supplied by tankers. Digging the illegal wells, uncontrolled exploitation of groundwater that cannot be replenished by recharge, uncontrolled exploitation of groundwater by the Shahid Mofateh power plants, unfavorable spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall, and lack of modern irrigation methods are responsible for the recent drought in Hamadan.