Groundwater

The report of the Expert Group on Ground Water Management and Ownership (2007) of the Planning Commission takes stock of the availability and use of groundwater and outlines the extent, causes and consequences of groundwater exploitation. It suggests the need for exploiting the untapped ‘static’ water, which if untapped creates stagnant conditions and over time provides the necessary time factor for the deterioration in quality. The rising demand for groundwater from agriculture has been attributed to the legal/regulatory regime governing groundwater and partly to the minimum support price policy and agricultural trade policy currently being followed.

The report presents the groundwater balance for the Southern Channel command area of the Pennar delta canal system as a part of the conjunctive use studies in the area. In a hydrological system, surface water flows, low or high, do not necessarily coincide with the low or high levels in groundwater, because of the sluggishness of the groundwater flow compared to surface water flow.

These guidelines drafted by Department of Rural Development (Andhra Pradesh) are conceptualized in the broad framework of the Hariyali guidelines and the experiences from Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Programme (APRLP), and are intended to strengthen the processes, and provide clarity and purposefulness in implementation of watershed development projects in Andhra Pradesh. They have been formulated on the basis of several process studies undertaken as well as through wide-ranging consultations with all stakeholders and experts.

The study deals with the analysis of surface and groundwater flow process in Dakshina Kannada district in Western Ghats of Karnataka. The area receives over 4000 mm rainfall annually but is still faced with acute shortage of freshwater during summer months. The study attempts to identify the surface and sub-surface flow process through geohydrological and geomorphological investigations in the Sithanadhi and Netravathi basins.

The report presents infiltration studies of the year 1996-97 for the Bargi Left Bank Canal Command area of Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Infiltration studies are mainly addressed to a variety of applications for managing water resources. The design of methods for estimation of flood mitigation and erosion control is often based on estimates of peak discharge derived from prediction of infiltration rate. Water conservation procedures require computation of cumulative infiltration to produce estimates of runoff yield.      

In this report, an application of kriging technique is presented for interpolation of groundwater levels in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. Groundwater management is important to meet the increasing demand for domestic, agricultural and industrial use. Various management measures need to know the spatial and temporal behavior of groundwater. Most of the groundwater models require the inputs to be available on a grid pattern. However in the field, these parameters are generally measured at random points. However, interpolation of parameters at the grid nodes is a prerequisite for using this data in groundwater modeling.

The report deals with groundwater table and hydrochemistry of the Kakinada coastal aquifer in East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh.

The report presents a hydrochemical study of the groundwater of Sagar, Madhya Pradesh carried out during 1996 to examine the suitability of water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Under the study, thirty-five water samples representing the shallow groundwater of the region were collected during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in the month of June and November 1996 respectively.

In this report, the suitability of groundwater of the Doon valley, Dehradun has been demonstrated on the basis of standards prescribed by BIS and WHO. The groundwater quality of the valley has been studied during 1996 to examine the suitability of water for irrigation and drinking purposes. Twelve water samples representing the shallow groundwater of the valley were collected during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons and analyzed for various constituents, viz. pH, conductance, total dissolved solids, alkalinity, hardness, chloride, sulphate, phosphate, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

The report presents waterlogged area mapping and hydrological data analysis of Mokama tal area of Bihar. The drainage problems of the agriculture land use are basically associated with the stagnation of runoff and the rise of the water table. Generally, the runoff stagnation is a result of intense rain, which produces excessive runoff for which the existing drainage capacity is not adequate or outlet conditions are not favorable. The rise of water table beyond a critical limit or surface ponding results in waterlogging conditions.