Groundwater

This paper describes the current groundwater situation and warns that the unsustainable use of groundwater stands to significantly impact a host of hydrological, ecological and other natural resources and services, including freshwater bodies, and aquatic, riparian, transitional, and terrestrial ecosystems. Baseflow will decrease and wetlands will disappear, streams and rivers will degrade, channel erosion will increase, and wildlife habitat will be reduced. Other impacts include drying up of wells, salt-water intrusion in coastal areas, and land subsidence.

This site by the Central Groundwater Board (Northern Region, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India provides information on the techniques for artificial recharge to groundwater and includes:

Objectives
By the end of the course, you will be able to:

This multimedia course developed by ACWADAM, Pune, is primarily meant for people working in watershed and agriculture projects, to give them a better understanding of groundwater.

This manual by the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India provides the background on the global and Indian water scenario and the emerging challenges related to groundwater depletion and pollut

The American Ground Water Trust is a non-profit education organization, based in the United States. The programmes developed by the trust aim at:

This case study deals with resolving the conflict over rural groundwater use between drinking water and irrigation supply in Tamil Nadu. In rural water-supply provision, resource availability has not received the attention it deserves.

This document deals with a study by ACWADAM of Pondhe watershed area in Maharashtra based on rapid hydrogeological mapping through field studies. Large areas of India are covered by what are called “hard rocks” that are mostly of igneous and metamorphic origin. Many arid and semi-arid regions of India obtain water supplies from groundwater stored in these rocks.

Groundwater depletion has reached such alarming proportions in the semi-arid and arid regions, despite huge investments in watershed development programmes by the state and central governments and the international donor community. One of the stated aims of these programmes is to mitigate drought and ensure water availability throughout the year.

Saurashtra is the peripheral region along Coastal Gujarat. It is composed of a Central basaltic plateau that rises 100 to 200m above mean sea level with an average annual rainfall of about 600 mm. The rainfall is concentrated in a few days during which the incident rainfall leads to flashfloods draining into the sea.