WATER AND ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE IN GUJARAT
“GROUND WATER AND ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE IN GUJARAT”
ABSTRACT
Though groundwater is an important source of irrigation in India, its availability is non-uniform in space and time. In Saurashtra region of Gujarat state, problem of groundwater depletion has arisen due to high withdrawal than rate of replenishment of groundwater. This also resulted in seawater intrusion in coastal areas at very high rate. The water harvesting and groundwater recharge activities played an important role in increasing the groundwater resource and also improved the quality of groundwater and decreased the rate of seawater intrusion in the region. Water is identified as one of the fifteen major indicators for sustainability and it is a major issue for fast growing economy of Gujarat. There are small and big 185 rivers are flowing in Gujarat, out of which 17 in central and South Gujarat, 71 in Saurashtra and 91 in Kachchh. But most of the rivers are seasonal and on an annual average of 6.74 lakh cubic meter of rain water flows through them. Requirement of the water in Saurashtra and Kachchh regions would increase from 131000 to 14440 lakh cubic meters in the years of 2010 and 2025 respectively.
So the scarcity of the water would increase from 3360 to 4269 lakh cubic meters in saurashtra and Kachchh regions, in north Gujarat the increment of the scarcity of the water n the same period is estimated 1418 lakh cubic meters; while the south Gujarat region is enjoying the plenty of water situation and the situation is further improving by 2327 lakh cubic meters. The problem of quality of the water is equally big and should be given appropriate attention. This paper takes the over-view of the quantity of water available and the scarcity of it only and indicates that the sustainable development of the state cannot be attained without proper management of the important resource for future generations.
“GROUND WATER AND ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE IN GUJARAT”
Dr. Dina Haresh
ABSTRACT
Though groundwater is an important source of irrigation in India, its availability is non-uniform in space and time. In Saurashtra region of Gujarat state, problem of groundwater depletion has arisen due to high withdrawal than rate of replenishment of groundwater. This also resulted in seawater intrusion in coastal areas at very high rate. The water harvesting and groundwater recharge activities played an important role in increasing the groundwater resource and also improved the quality of groundwater and decreased the rate of seawater intrusion in the region. Water is identified as one of the fifteen major indicators for sustainability and it is a major issue for fast growing economy of Gujarat. There are small and big 185 rivers are flowing in Gujarat, out of which 17 in central and South Gujarat, 71 in Saurashtra and 91 in Kachchh. But most of the rivers are seasonal and on an annual average of 6.74 lakh cubic meter of rain water flows through them. Requirement of the water in Saurashtra and Kachchh regions would increase from 131000 to 14440 lakh cubic meters in the years of 2010 and 2025 respectively.
So the scarcity of the water would increase from 3360 to 4269 lakh cubic meters in saurashtra and Kachchh regions, in north Gujarat the increment of the scarcity of the water n the same period is estimated 1418 lakh cubic meters; while the south Gujarat region is enjoying the plenty of water situation and the situation is further improving by 2327 lakh cubic meters. The problem of quality of the water is equally big and should be given appropriate attention. This paper takes the over-view of the quantity of water available and the scarcity of it only and indicates that the sustainable development of the state cannot be attained without proper management of the important resource for future generations.
“GROUND WATER AND ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE IN GUJARAT”
Dr. Dina Haresh
References: 1) Assessment of Ground Water Recharge by Water Harvesting Structures Using Remote Sensing and GIS - A Study of Jamka Village - Prajit C Patel & Sharad R Gajera 2) United Nations Environment Programme, GEO-2000 3) United Nations Economic and Social Council, Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World, Report of the Secretary-General, Commission on Sustainable Development, Fifth Session, 7-25 April, 1997 4) Ground Water Resources. Central Groundwater Board, West Central Region, Ahmedabad.