Groundwater

This presentation by ACWADAM deals with monitoring of water quality in a watershed. It describes the process of going about conducting a hydrogeological study of the watershed, right from the study of the basic geology to the importance of the quality of groundwater in the watershed. The main hydrogeological provinces of India are described - (a) Hard rock regimes: Crystalline rocks, Volcanic (Deccan basalt), (b) Alluvial regimes, and (c) Consolidated sedimentary regimes: Soft sedimentary, Hard sedimentary.

This presentation by ACWADAM on aquifers states that a systematic approach to groundwater studies is required to understand how water exists in each type of rock or sediment for which hydrogeological mapping of aquifers becomes significant in every watershed programme. The necessity of studying the scientific aspects of groundwater such as its properties and distribution below the earth’s surface is highlighted.

The presentation deals with weathering, erosion and deposition of rocks -

• The process of breaking down and alteration of rocks and formation of new materials from them is known as weathering of rocks.
• The group of processes whereby the materials of the earth’s crust are moved from one place to another by running water (including rainfall), waves and current, glacier ice and wind is known as erosion.  
• The processes whereby the material being carried during the process of erosion is deposited either through physical processes (such as drop in the velocity of flowing water) or precipitation of dissolved material under a set of conditions for instance, the deposition of limestones from water rich in calcium carbonate is known as deposition.

This presentation by ACWADAM on processes that shape the earth attempts to understand the irregularities of the surface of earth so as to consider the movement of groundwater. The earth’s surface is dotted with what is commonly perceived as high grounds or ‘hills’ and the low grounds or ‘valleys’. Hills and valleys result from movements in the earth and the long term processes of breaking-down the earth surface at some places and building it up at others, also called as diastrophism.  

This presentation by ACWADAM deals with hydrogeology and sanitation guidelines. Safe water supply and sanitation choices are an important public health measure and source quality improvement is critical to this. The impact of different aspects of water and sanitation appears to be largely dependent on the conditions within a particular community and existing access to other components of water and sanitation.

This presentation by ACWADAM deals with groundwater modeling using the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) model. WEAP is a microcomputer tool for integrated water resources planning and operates on the basic principle of a water balance. WEAP is distinguished by its integrated approach to simulating water systems and by its policy orientation. It provides a comprehensive, flexible and user-friendly framework for policy analysis.

This presentation by ACWADAM on earth sciences in watershed management shows how the occurrence of water within a watershed is governed by the rock types occurring both at the surface and within the subsurface, their sequence and their structure. The presentation deals with the basic components involved in the mapping of a watershed –

• The type of rocks (lithology), and
• The structure (whether these are folded, faulted, fractured, jointed etc.,)

This presentation by ACWADAM deals with the structure of the sub-surface. The lithology and structure of rocks together define the geometric framework for the movement of groundwater. To some extent, these factors also govern the movement of surface water too. In other words, the physical environment of rocks and rock material hosts water, and hence, controls its accumulation and flow in the watershed.

This presentation by ACWADAM deals with the importance of groundwater. It is well-known fact that groundwater forms a very crucial source of water supply in the national scenario on water resources today. And yet, it continues to remain a resource that is both abused and misused. Often, watershed projects suffer from insufficient inputs, especially hydrogeological to address the problem(s) of groundwater within the watersheds.

This presentation by ACWADAM deals with groundwater typologies in India. The typology of groundwater can be defined in many ways based on a) Uses of Groundwater, b) Geography, c) Geology, d) Hydrogeology (Aquifers), e) Groundwater Quality, f) Stage of Groundwater Development, and g) Socio-ecology of Groundwater.