Abstract
The future availability and sustainability of fresh groundwater resources in the South West district of the national capital territory (NCT) Delhi, India, have been projected. Due to a rapid decline in groundwater level and quality, the district has been required by the Government of India to regulate development of groundwater resources. Shallow groundwater is mostly saline and water resources in the area are limited. The methodology applied here involves microzonation of the district in terms of thickness of fresh groundwater and then quantification of present and future availability of freshwater in different freshwater zones, including tentative timescales. The calculation method has been aided by data on historic trends in water level at representative groundwater monitoring stations, located either in fresh groundwater zones or near to them. It is estimated that the presently available 481 million m3 of resources will be reduced to 374 million m3 by year 2007 and to 303 million m3 by the year 2012, and by the year 2022 the district will have only 176 million m3 of available fresh groundwater resources.
Résumé
La disponibilité et durabilité future de ressources d’eau douce dans la partie sud du district du Territoire Capital National (NCT en anglais) de Delhi en Inde, a été étudiée. Le Gouvernement Indien a demandé au district de réguler le développement de ses ressources en eaux souterraines, en réponse à une diminution rapide du niveau et de la qualité de ces dernières. Les ressources phréatiques sont généralement salées, et la ressource limitée dans la zone concernée. La méthode ici appliquée consiste en la microzonation de l’épaisseur des eaux douces, et en l’évaluation présente et future de la disponibilité de ces eaux dans différentes zones, y compris leur évolution dans le temps. La méthode de calcul a été facilitée par la mise à disposition de niveaux piézométriques enregistrés au droit de stations de références situées dans les zones d’eau douce ou à proximité. Il est estimé que le volume disponible de 481 millions m3, sera réduit à 374 millions m3 en 2007, 303 millions m3 en 2012, et seulement 176 millions m3 en 2022.
Resumen
Se ha proyectado la disponibilidad futura y sostenibilidad de los recursos de agua subterránea fresca en el distrito suroccidental del Territorio Capital Nacional (NCT) Delhi, India. El Gobierno de India ha requerido que el distrito regule el desarrollo de aguas subterráneas en respuesta a los descensos rápidos de los niveles y la calidad del agua. El agua subterránea somera es dominantemente salada y los recursos hídricos del área son limitados. La metodología utilizada involucra la microzonificación del distrito en términos de espesor del agua subterránea fresca y posteriormente la cuantificación de la disponibilidad presente y futura de agua fresca en diferentes zonas de agua fresca, incluyendo escalas de tiempo tentativas. El método de cálculo se ha apoyado en tendencias históricas de niveles de agua en estaciones representativas de monitoreo de agua subterránea que se localizan en zonas de agua subterránea fresca o cerca de ellas. Se estima que los recursos actualmente presentes, cerca de 481 millones m3, se reducirán a 374 millones m3 para el año 2007 y a 303 millones m3 para el año 2012, y que para el año 2022 el distrito tendrá solo 176 millones m3 de recursos de agua subterránea fresca disponible.
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References
CGWB (2003) Sustainable development of groundwater resources of Dwarka Sub-City, Report, Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, Delhi
Shekhar S (2004) Integrated groundwater management study of the South West district with special reference to fresh/saline water interface, Report, Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, Delhi
Shekhar S, Singh S B (2005) The occurrence and availability of fresh groundwater resources in the South West district of NCT Delhi, India, paper presented at the National Conference on “Earth Science: Its Relevance to Society”, 14th Biennial Convention of the Indian Geological Congress, Jointly organized by the Indian Geological Congress, Roorkee and the Department of Geology, 2–4 December 2005, University of Delhi, Delhi
Shekhar S, Singh S B, Romani S (2005) The controls to the variation in depth to fresh/saline interface in the groundwater of the South West District, NCT, Delhi: a case study. J Geol Soc India, 66:17–20
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to Dr. Saleem Roamani, Chairman, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and retired CGWB scientist Dr. S.B. Singh for useful discussions during the course of this work. The discussion, from time to time, with fellow colleagues (P.N. Singh, S.K. Mohiddin, B.K. Gupta and Purohit) is duly acknowledged. The author also acknowledges meticulous review comments by an anonymous reviewer and the editorial team of Hydrogeology Journal which helped to improve the manuscript.
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Shekhar, S. An approximate projection of availability of the fresh groundwater resources in the South West district of NCT Delhi, India: a case study. Hydrogeol J 14, 1330–1338 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-006-0049-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-006-0049-9