Deep Aquifers

Featured Articles
July 11, 2022 The Chauka system of Rajasthan can not only provide a sustainable way to manage water resources in water stressed regions, but also support livelihoods through development of pastures.
Can greening of barren lands happen? (Image Source: India Water Portal Flickr photos)
July 29, 2021 Experiences from participatory groundwater management efforts in Maharashtra
Unless work on managing the demand is undertaken, the notion of ‘infinite’ groundwater will be hard to address. (Image: Rucha Deshmukh, ACWADAM)
December 4, 2019 The 2015­-2018 drought, the longest, but less severe of droughts experienced by India raises alarm on the negative effects of future droughts on water security in the country.
India will see more droughts in the future. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
October 25, 2019 Groundwater use has doubled in Pune. Comprehensive mapping of groundwater resources and better management and governance is the need of the hour.
Groundwater, an exploited resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
October 1, 2019 Deconstructing the traditional narrow engineering based policy discourses around floods and droughts and connecting them to social and cultural realities is the need of the hour in India.
Water talk Series at Mumbai (Image Source:Tata Insitute of Social Sciences)
September 30, 2019 The recently concluded 4 day conference in Bangalore looked at the current state of global water resource challenges & future pathways to achieve the SDGs, while ensuring equity in access to all.
Charles Vorosmarty, Chair, COMPASS Initiative, Water Future at the opening plenary on advanced water system assessments to address water security challenges of the 21st century.
Is your building 'green' enough? - A rating system to measure efficiency of existing green buildings
Green rating program pilot to start, Kerala's projects to increase water quantity & quality and reassessment of Gundia hydel project are some of the headlines this week. Posted on 29 Apr, 2013 05:03 PM

Is your building green enough?

The story of how blissful ignorance allows Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages to deprive Mehdiganj, Varanasi of its water
What does 'being water positive' really mean for the villages where manufacturing plants are situated ? Posted on 01 Apr, 2013 11:39 PM

 

Bottled drinks are commonplace and we often reach for them without a thought. We may even feel good about our purchase as we read about the companies' commitment to water security' printed on the label. 

 

What does 'being water positive' really mean for the villages where manufacturing plants are situated ? This article examines the case of one such plant in Mehdiganj, PO Benipur, Arajiline block, Dist Varanasi and its effect on the groundwater levels in the area. The village has led an agitation against 4 specific negative impacts of the plant, acheiving moderate but measurable success.

This year, the movement comes to a crisis point as despite a warning by the Central Groundwater Development Board, the plant applies for a four-fold expansion.  

Some strategies for managing groundwater by Aditi Mukherji, IWMI
Groundwater is essential for India's agricutural economy. In her blog 'Waterscapes', Aditi Mukherji discusses the need for regional strategies to manage groundwater economy. Posted on 22 Feb, 2013 09:53 AM

Groundwater is essential for India's agricutural economy. However, there is a large variation in the groundwater resources of each region. Some regions are already over-exploited, while others can still tolerate more withdrawal. In her blog 'Waterscapes', Aditi Mukherji discusses the need for regional strategies to manage groundwater economy.

Assessing the land use change and its impact on water resources: A study on the Mula and Mutha rivers catchment area in Pune
Analysing the changes in land uses between 1989 and 2009, this paper assesses the impact on water balance in Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of the city of Pune Posted on 17 Feb, 2013 09:11 PM

Land use changes  hydrologic system and have potentially large impacts on water resources. An assessment in an area with seasonally limited water availability and which is subject to rapid socio- economic development and population growth will provide an exemplary view on the local impacts of major recent developments in India. In this backdrop this paper analyzes past land use changes between 1989 and 2009 and their impacts on the water balance in the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of Pune. The aim of the paper is:

  • assess the land use changes between 1989/1990 and 2009/2010
  • analyze the impacts of these changes on the long-term water balance components in the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of the city of Pune.

Handbook for flood protection, anti-erosion and river training works by Central Water Commission (2012)
This Handbook provides necessary guidance to the field engineers to deal primarily with structural measures of flood management like flood protection works, anti erosion measures and river training works. Posted on 13 Feb, 2013 09:43 PM

This handbook by Central Water Commission aims to provide necessary guidance to the field engineers in the state and central for design, appraisal, construction and monitoring of the flood management works covering all the relevant BIS codes, design manuals, guidelines, technical specifications for construction materials and practices etc. to meet new challenges in the flood management in India.

Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and National Remote Sensing Centre release groundwater prospects maps for 14 states of India
Groundwater is our main source of water for domestic, agriculture and industrial use today and through base flows, it also maintains the flow in many of our rivers Posted on 17 Jan, 2013 05:29 PM

It is therefore crucial that we look after this resource and ensure that it is managed properly.Over reliance on groundwater for both domestic and commercial purposes has led to over-exploitation and contamination of groundwater. In order to make groundwater sustainable, there is a need to understand the aquifer characteristics as well as its overall geological setting.

Death of tubewells and resurgence of ponds
A story of a brave farmer who followed his heart, dug a pond in his agricultural land and paved the way to a ‘greener’ water rich village. Posted on 07 Jan, 2013 04:46 PM

 

 

Climate change adaptation in water management for food security - A consultation meeting by India Water Partnership
A consultation meeting was held by the India Water Partnership on “Climate change adaptation in water management for food security: Recent developments in India”. Posted on 19 Dec, 2012 09:20 AM

The meeting held on 22nd November, 2012 at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi was followed by a discussion which included comments and suggestions of the experts and participants. The meeting was chaired by Prof. S R Hashim, President, India Water Partnership who was accompanied by Dr.

The APWELL Project: Andhra Pradesh's experience with participatory hydrological monitoring
The APWELL project sought to improve agricultural production through controlled groundwater exploitation by the means of nearly 3,500 wells and irrigation systems. The project acknowledged the risk of over-exploitation of groundwater.Part of the solution was to only permit wells in areas that were not already over-exploited. Recharge of groundwater and increasing irrigation efficiency were also implemented. Posted on 18 Dec, 2012 02:04 PM

Preventing groundwater abuse depends on the users' knowledge of what constitutes this over-exploitation and abuse, and why it is undesirable. The success of APWELL, therefore, depends on participatory hydrological monitoring in which the users were trained in basic hydrology and charged with monitoring the hydrological balance of the watershed.