The study on aquifer response modeling was undertaken for the southern channel command area of the Pennar delta canal system in Andhra Pradesh to understand the potential and dependability of groundwater supplies in the study area so that limited surface waters could be allocated to other uses or areas.
The study area has poor network of observation wells to examine the groundwater level fluctuations in the command area. The conjunctive use modeling at seasonal level, i.e., for water supply under canals during monsoon season and under wells during non-monsoon season is studied as a lumped model based on the water balance studies undertaken earlier for the study area. Since the area consists of a network of about 3250 filter points for agricultural use, an attempt has been made to simulate the drawdown due to pumping of groundwater around a single well.
The top aquifer is simulated using a finite difference method at a grid level of 1km x 1km. The pumping at different nodes is derived based on the number of filter points and extent of geographical area served by the village falling within the grid. The aquifer parameters are adopted as those used in the water balance study undertaken earlier for the area.
Though the results could not be validated due to the poor network of observation wells in the study area, the procedure adopted in the study of conjunctive use modeling at seasonal level may be useful in undertaking such studies elsewhere and for formulating an operational model for conjunctive use practice of surface and ground water supplies.
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