Groundwater systems of the Indian Sub-Continent

Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies

Dipankar Saha¹  Charles F. Harvey²  Richard G. Taylor³  Soumendra N. Bhanja⁴  Abhijit Mukherjee⁴  Kazi Matin Ahmed⁵ 

[1] Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India, Faridabad, India;Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA;Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK;Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India;Department of Geology, Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh;

关键词: Groundwater;    Indian Sub-Continent;    Irrigation;    Aquifer;    Groundwater quality;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.03.005

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The Indian Sub-Continent is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, hosting ∼23% of the global population within only ∼3% of the world's land area. It encompasses some of the world's largest fluvial systems in the world (River Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus Basins), which hosts some of the highest yielding aquifers in the world. The distribution of usable groundwater in the region varies considerably and the continued availability of safe water from many of these aquifers (e.g. Bengal Basin) is constrained by the presence of natural contaminants. Further, the trans-boundary nature of the aquifers in the Indian Sub-Continent makes groundwater resource a potentially politically sensitive issue, particularly since this region is the largest user of groundwater resources in the world. Indeed, there is considerable concern regarding dwindling well yield and declining groundwater levels, even for the highly productive aquifers. Though irrigation already accounts for >85% of the total ground water extraction of the region, there is a mounting pressure on aquifers for food security of the region. Highly variable precipitation, hydrogeological conditions and predicted, impending climate change effects provide substantial challenges to groundwater management. The observed presence of natural groundwater contaminants together with the growing demand for irrigated food production and predicted climate change further complicate the development of strategies for using groundwater resources sustainably. We provide an introduction and overview of 11 articles, collated in this special issue, which describe the current condition of vulnerable groundwater resources across the Indian Sub-Continent.

【 授权许可】

Unknown