Hydrogeology

The India Water Portal is pleased to announce to its users, that a comprehensive FAQ Manual on Groundwater authored by Dr Mihir Kumar Maitra is now available on the portal. The objective of this document is to narrow down the existing knowledge gaps amongst the common groundwater users.

The document has been prepared in a simple question and answer format as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). In order to keep the subject easy to comprehend, many technical concepts have been explained in simple language.

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Groundwater is a natural replenishable resource. It is an important source for various purposes, including drinking, irrigation and industrial, due to insufficient surface water supply and frequent failure of monsoon. Identification of groundwater zones depends upon many factors such as distribution of rainfall, runoff, grain size of soil, topographic features, type of landform, drainage conditions, lithological characteristics, land use practices, depth to groundwater level and environmental constraints, which are not uniform in any area. 

Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

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This report by Central Ground Water Board presents a compilation of case studies on rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge and impact of such measures in ameliorating problems related to groundwater. Groundwater caters to the demand of ever growing domestic, agricultural and industrial sector of the country and is being indiscriminately exploited by several users. On the other hand, rapid urbanization and land use changes has resulted in reduced natural infiltration or recharge of aquifers.

This has led to various problems related to quantity and quality and issues like the decline in water levels, depletion of groundwater resource and quality deterioration. There is thus an imperative need for augmenting the valuable groundwater resource. Artificial recharge and roof top rainwater harvesting is one such method that can revive this precious resource. Several traditional and scientifically proven artificial recharge and rainwater harvesting techniques have been adopted in different parts of the country. These structures have proven to be viable option for augmenting the groundwater aquifers by making use of surplus surface runoff.

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This report by Green Systems, provides an approach to recharge the groundwater consumed by the Jindal Steel and Power Plant (JSPL) in Angul, Orissa by harvesting rainwater. The area's geological, hydrological and climatic facets are studied to arrive at a series of recommendations, which not only include the type of recharge structures and their design but also their location.Read More