Groundwater potential assessment of certain blocks of Kancheepuram District

Abstract

In order to satisfy the demand for basic resources for the enormously expanding population, it is of prime importance to sustainably use and augment the natural resources. Of all the natural resources, water plays a major role for survival of life on our planet. Since there is an exponential increase in demand of water for various purposes such as agriculture, domestic and industries, it is necessary to map out and optimally utilize the water resource. As the surface water alone is not enough to fulfil the growing demands of the people, groundwater is extracted and is being used by the community on a large scale. For the sustainable use of groundwater, it is necessary to carry out groundwater assessment to know how much water is available for extraction and the stage of groundwater potential development. In this study, an attempt is made to assess the groundwater potential of five blocks of Kancheepuram district using water level fluctuation method based on GEC norms 2015, for the period 2010-2019. The population of the five blocks was forecast for the study period using geometric increase method. The stage of groundwater development in 2010, which fell in safe and semi critical categories, changed to semi critical and critical categories respectively in the year 2019, due to over extraction of groundwater resource. The rainfall departure analysis, % contribution of seasonal rainfall to annual rainfall has been performed to compare with the groundwater recharge. The north west monsoon contributed 51% of the annual rainfall, hence by considering the amount of rainfall in the peak season, suitable recharge structure is suggested for the blocks under consideration.