Identification of surface water harvesting sites for water stressed area using GIS: A case study of ausgram block, Burdwan District, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Water is the most vital element for survival on earth. It has become one of the emerging environmental issues our ecosystems are facing today. Issues of water quantity, quality and availability are the three major concerns and are vital to the quality of life on earth. It is one of the most essential resources in our day-to-day life. It is depleting fast in rural as well as urban areas mainly because of increase in agricultural and domestic demands (Kumar et al. 2008). In water resources planning, ground water is attracting an ever-increasing interest due to scarcity of good quality subsurface water and growing need of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses. In a densely populated country like India, groundwater resource is in high demand. In undulating terrains, availability of water resource is of limited extent. Efficient management and planning of water resources in these areas are of utmost importance.