Evaluation of Groundwater Resources and Estimation of Stage of Groundwater Development in a Basin – A Case Study

Rapid industrial development, urbanization and increase in agricultural production have led to freshwater shortage in many parts of the world. For sustainable development of water resources, it is imperative to make quantitative estimations of the available water resources. The study area, the Kurmapalli Vagu Basin, is located in the semi‐arid tropics of the Deccan Plateau and is a chronic drought‐prone, backward and endemic fluoride area. Hence evaluation of groundwater resources and stage of groundwater development of the Kurmapalli Vagu Basin was carried out utilizing remote sensing and geographical information system techniques in conjunction with conventional methods. The arithmetic average method was used to compute the total quantity of water from precipitation received by the basin. The groundwater resources were evaluated based on Groundwater Resource Estimation Committee norms. Groundwater recharge from rainfall, canals, return flow of irrigation, minor irrigation tanks and water conservation structures were also estimated. The total groundwater recharge and annual utilizable groundwater resources from various sources were computed. The net annual groundwater draft was estimated based on the number and type of wells and unit draft. The groundwater balance of the basin works out to be 1.95 MCM. The stage of groundwater development for the Kurmapalli Vagu Basin as on date works out to be 80.6% which falls in the semi‐critical category. Suggestions have been made for proper augmentation of groundwater resources. Further, to ensure sustainable development of the basin water‐harvesting structures have been proposed.