Table 4.2: Selected large aquifer systems with non-renewables groundwater
resources
| Countries |
Aquifer syste, |
Area (km2) |
Estimated total volume (km3) |
Estimated exploitable volume (km3) |
Estimated annual recharge (km3) |
Estimated annual abstraction (km3) |
| Source: Jean Margat, personal communication, 2004. |
| (Adapted from the UNESCO Working Group on Non-Renewable
Groundwater Resources, 2004). |
| Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Chad |
Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System |
2,200,000 |
150,000 to 457,000 |
> 6,500 |
13 |
1.6 |
| Algeria, Libya, Tunisia |
NW Sahara Aquifer System |
1,000,000 |
60,000 |
1,280 |
14 |
2.5 |
| Algeria, Libya, Niger |
Murzuk Basin |
450,000 |
> 4,800 |
> 60 to 80 |
n.a. |
1.75 |
| Mali, Niger, Nigeria |
Iullemeden Aquifer System |
500,000 |
10,000 to 15,000 |
250 to 550 |
50 to 80 |
n.a. |
| Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon |
Chad Basin Aquifer |
600,000 |
n.a. |
> 170 to 350 |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| S.Arabia, UAR, Bahrain, Qatar |
Multilayer Aquifer Arabian Platform |
250,000 |
n.a. |
500? |
30 |
13.9 |
| Australia |
Great Artesian Basin |
1,700,000 |
20,000 |
170 |
50 |
0.6 |
| Russia |
West Siberian Artesian Basin |
3,200,000 |
1,000,000 |
n.a. |
55 |
n.a. |
Source: UNESCO 
The United Nations World Water Development Report 2
Section 2: Changing Natural Systems,
Chapter 4, Part 2. Nature, Variability and Availability, p.130
Related publication:
Other Figures & Tables on this publication:
Table 4.1: Precipitation distribution into surface water and groundwater
components (by climate region)
Table 4.2: Selected large aquifer systems with non-renewables groundwater
resources
Table 4.3: Water availability information by country (AQUASTAT, FAO 2005)
Table 4.4: Major principal sources and impacts of sedimentation
Table 4.5: Freshwater pollution sources, effects and constituents of concern
Table 4.6: Spatial and time scales within which pollution occurs and can be
remediated
Table 4.7: Potential applications for reclaimed water
Figure 4.1: Global distribution of the world’s water
Figure 4.2: Schematic of the hydrologic cycle components in present-day setting
Figure 4.3: Oxygen-18 content of stream water along the main stem of large rivers
Figure 4.4: Variations in continental river runoff through most of the twentieth century (deviations from average values)
Figure 4.5: Typical hydrographs in accordance with climatic settings
Figure 4.6: Acid rain and its deposition processes
Figure 4.7: Five-year mean of the pH level in rainfall in the eastern regions of Canada and the US
Figure 4.8: Primary sources of groundwater pollution
Map 4.1
Map 4.2
Map 4.3: Groundwater abstraction rate as a percentage of mean recharge
Aral Sea
