Publication Date
2009
Keywords
Monsoon, Aravalli, time series, water table, GIS
Abstract
In India, water resources are governed by the southwest monsoon. The water demand is increasing day by day due to population growth, rapid urbanisation, and multiple cropping practices. Due to changing climatic conditions monsoon, the chief controller of rainfall is found to be very irregular. Erratic monsoon with insufficient rainfall in combination with high heat-flow and over-exploitation of ground water imparts stress on the water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Time-series analysis of water-table fluctuations provides idea about temporal variation of aquifer-recharge and availability of ground-water resources. In the present study, an attempt has been made to assess relative influence of different controlling factors on ground-water recharge. Spatio-temporal variations of rainfall, potential evapotranspiration, ground-water draft and consequent water-table fluctuations in the Aravalli terrain have been analysed using GIS. Visual comparison points out significant decrease in aquifer-recharge and variation in its spatial patterns in yearly and decadal scales owing to large variations in the seasonal rainfall distribution and over-exploitation of the limited water resources. Wells and zones could be demarcated where water table is depleting since a decade, irrespective of change in the rainfall scenario.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
(2009)
"Erratic Monsoon, Growing Water Demand, and Declining Water Table,"
Journal of Spatial Hydrology: Vol. 9:
No.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/josh/vol9/iss1/2