Assessment and management of groundwater resources

Abstract

Assessment and management of groundwater resources is important for their optimum utilization and to avoid any adverse effects. First of all, it is necessary to have a prior knowledge of the distribution as well as hydraulic and geochemical characteristics of aquifers, as discussed in earlier chapters. It is also necessary to know the amount of natural recharge and groundwater abstraction. Management of groundwater resources is simple when natural recharge is more than the abstraction. However, when the aquifer approaches full development, the management problems increase significantly. Abstraction more than natural recharge leads to decline in groundwater-levels which causes uneconomic pumping lifts, land subsidence, seawater encroachment in coastal aquifers and so on. On the other hand, extensive use of surface water for irrigation may cause water logging and salinization of water and soil.