Groundwater condition in Ulaanbaatar City, Mongolia

Population growth in the Ulaanbaatar area, Mongolia has been rapid, and demand for potable water will continue to rise. Recently, the water demand of the city has increased largely because of the rapid industrial development and population growth, partly due to the migration from rural areas. The water supply of Ulaanbaatar totally depends on groundwater withdrawn from alluvial aquifers along the Tuul River Basin, located in the southern part of the city. According to the Master Plan of Ulaanbaatar for 2020, the municipal water demand alone will reach 314,000 cubic meters per day by 2020 and the city may start to face water shortage crisis from 2010. Existing water supply facilities and equipment needs to be rehabilitate to become more efficient and reliable. We need to know how current and future pumping and future droughts will affect water levels in the long term, and how these factors impact on groundwater resources and the environment.