Abstract
In recent years, large-scale reduction in the forest cover is observed all over the country due to various reasons, particularly in the humid tropics. However, there are concerted efforts by government departments and NGO’s to bring back the degraded forests to original position through plantation and related agro-forestry activities. Reforestation/afforestation is often recommended as a means of reducing the increased surface water losses associated with soil degradation, returning water to the roots through the soil profile, thereby ultimately restoring base flow. Most of the rehabilitation programs often adopt fast-growing exotic species such as, Eucalyptus spp., Acacia auriculiformis. Many researchers raised concerns over the increased afforestation with exotic forest species on water availability. However, such studies are quite sparse, particularly in humid tropical climates. The Western Ghats in south India, is a treasure house for number of rivers which feeds locally and plays a significant role in socio-economic growth of this part of the country. It is reported that, there is a tremendous change in land use/land cover mainly because of deforestation and also due to afforestation with exotic species such as A. auriculiformis. In spite of such wider change in the land use/land cover, studies on its impact on groundwater resources are lacking. Therefore, the present study has been carried out to understand the influence of land use/land cover changes on groundwater in parts of Malaprabha catchment, a tributary of River Krishna accentuating hydrological and hydrogeological investigations. Rainfall and groundwater level data have been collected from State and Central organizations. Groundwater recharge was estimated using empirical and Groundwater Estimation Committee methods. A numerical model, soil water infiltration movement model (SWIM), was applied to estimate the groundwater recharge under different land covers. It was observed that the groundwater recharge is mainly dependent on the rainfall pattern and land use/land cover changes. The forested areas have shown relatively higher recharge as compared to degraded and agriculture lands.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Bonell M, Purandara BK, Venkatesh B, Acharya HAK, Jayakumar R, Singh UV (2010) The impact of tropical forestation on soil hydraulic conductivity in the Western Ghats, Karnataka and some implications on the runoff process. J Hydrol 391:47–62
Bruijnzeel LA (2004) Hydrological functions of tropical forest: not seeing the soil for the trees? Agric Ecosyst Environ 104:185–228. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2004.01.015
Chandramohan T, Purandara BK, Varadarajan N (2015) A detailed investigation of suspended sediment characteristics of Malaprabha river basin. In: Proceedings of national seminar on mining environment and water resources development, organized by Mining Engineers Association of India, Belgaum chapter
Chazdon RL (2008) Beyond deforestation: restoring forests and ecosystem services on degraded lands. Science 13(5882):1458–1460
Choubey VK, Purandara BK (1992) Hydrological land use mapping of Malaprabha and Ghataprabha catchments of Krishna basin. CS-85, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand
Cuo L, Giambelluca TW, Ziegler AD, Nullet MA (2008) The roles of roads and agricultural land use in altering hydrological processes in Nam Mae Rim watershed, northern Thailand. Hydrol Process 22:4339–4354
Eswaran H, Lal R, Reich PF (2001) Land degradation—an overview conference on land degradation and desertification. Khonkaen, Thailand. Oxford Press, New Delhi
Giambellucca TW (2002) Hydrology of altered tropical forest. Hydrol Process Appl Remote Sens Hydrol 16(8):1665–1669
Ground Water Estimation Committee (1997) Ground water estimation methodology-1997. Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India
Holscher D, Mackensen J, Roberts JM (2004) Forest recovery in the humid tropics: changes in vegetation structure, nutrient pools and the hydrological cycle. In: Bonell M, Bruijnzeel LA (eds) Forests, water and people in the humid tropics: past, present and future hydrological research for integrated land and water management. UNESCO, International Hydrology Series, Cambridge, University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 598–621
Jagdish K, Bonell M, Venkatesh B, Purandara BK, Lele S, Kiran MC, Reddy V, Badiger S, Rakesh KN (2013) The rain-runoff response of tropical humid forest ecosystems to use and reforestation in the Western Ghats of India. J Hydrol 498:191–209
Kumar CP (2009) Ground water assessment methodology. National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee
Lalitha S, Purandara BK, Venkatesh B (2015) Hydrological investigations in Malaprabha catchment (up to Khanapur). In: Proceedings on national seminar on mining environment and water resources development, organized by Mining Engineers Association of India, Belgaum chapter
Malmer A, Murdiyarso D, Bruijnzeel LA, Ilstedt U (2010) Carbon sequestration in tropical forests and water: a critical look at the basis for commonly used generalizations. Glob Change Biol 16:599–604. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01984.x
Perroux KM, White I (1988) Design for disc permeameters. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:1205–1215
Purandara BK, Venktesh B, Durbude DG (1999) Hydrological responses to changes in Land use and soil characteristics—a case study. In: Proceedings of national seminar on hydraulics, HYDRO’99, organised by YCCE & VRCE, Nagpur, 6–7 March 1999, pp 240–245
Purandara BK, Venkatesh B, Soni B, Jayakumar R, Bonell M (2006) Impact of afforestation on soil hydraulic properties: a case study. In: Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Lele SC, Jayakumar R (eds) Hydrology and Watershed Services in the Western Ghat of India—effects of land use and land cover change, 167–192
Purandara BK, Venkatesh B, Choubey VK (2010) Estimation of ground water Recharge under different land covers. Int J Mater Geo-environ 57(2):181–194 (published from Slovenia)
Rawat JS, Purandara BK (1992) Representative basin studies in Malaprabha and Ghataprabha basins. Technical Report-178, NIH, Roorkee
Reynolds WD, Elrick DE (1987) A laboratory and numerical assessment of the Guelph Permeameter method. Soil Sci 144:282–292
Ross PJ (1990) SWIM—a simulation model for soil water infiltration and movement. Reference Manual to SWIM 2.1, CSIRO Division of Soils, Australia
Van Dijk AIJM, Bruijnzeel LA (2001) Modelling rainfall interception by vegetation of variable density using an adapted analytical model. I. Model description. J Hydrol 247:230–238
White I, Sully MJ (1987) Macroscopic and microscopic capillary length and time scales from field infiltration. Water Resour Res 23:1514–1522
Acknowledgements
Authors are highly grateful to Er. R.D. Singh, Director, NIH and Dr. Sudhirkumar, Scientist ‘G’ and Head, Hydrological Investigation Division, NIH, Roorkee, for their constant support and encouragement.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Purandara, B.K., Venkatesh, B., Jose, M.K., Chandramohan, T. (2018). Change of Land Use/Land Cover on Groundwater Recharge in Malaprabha Catchment, Belagavi, Karnataka, India. In: Singh, V., Yadav, S., Yadava, R. (eds) Groundwater. Water Science and Technology Library, vol 76. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5789-2_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5789-2_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5788-5
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5789-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)