Big data and environmental sustainability based integrated framework for isotope hydrology applications in India

Abstract

Water contains environmental isotopes, which can act as tracers to study the source, origin, and distribution of water in the hydrological cycle. Recently, the environmental isotopes have been widely applied in hydrological investigations and it is established that the spatio-temporal variations in isotopic abundance provide valuable information to enhance the qualitative and quantitative understanding of hydrological processes such as mixing of different flow components and recharge rate, identify origin of water, delineation of groundwater recharge zones, geothermal dynamics, paleo-recharge and many others. Here, a review of case studies is presented to highlight the impact of isotope applications in water resource management in India. Along with a review of studies across India, a study is carried out for the assessment of groundwater interactions using isotopes of water (18O, 2H and 3H) in dry/semi-arid region (Jaipur) and wet/humid region (Guwahati). The major outcome of the study is the formulation of groundwater baseline for Guwahati (post-monsoon in 2017 and 2018: δD= 4.98 δ18O + 7.50) and Jaipur (post-monsoon and pre-monsoon in 2018: δD= 4.85 δ18O – 9.49). The results indicate that tritium has strong negative correlation (R2 = 0.59) with depth in Jaipur, indicating increasing groundwater age with depth. In Guwahati, the tritium shows weak positive (R2= 0.25) relationship which might be because of the presence of sandyclay layers in the shallow zone limiting vertical recharge to aquifer. Moreover, based upon the review and isotope results of the two study sites, a novel integrated framework for isotope hydrology application for India is proposed, incorporating the principles of environmental sustainability, economic efficiency and social equity. The isotopic techniques in hydrological investigations not only complements the traditional methods used in water resource management but also provides new insights and an enhanced understanding of the hydrological systems.