Chapter 1 - Introduction

Groundwater is a major source of water supply throughout the World. It is the largest available source of freshwater, which supports human health, socio-economic development, and ecological diversity. However, over-exploitation and the growing water pollution are threatening our ecosystems as well as the life of our future generations. How to maintain long-term sustainable yield from aquifers is a serious global concern, particularly in the developing countries. The main intent of this chapter is to highlight the constraints and challenges of sustainable development and management of groundwater resources in the developing nations. This chapter also intends to suggest ways for improving water resources management in general and groundwater management in particular. Firstly, the importance of freshwater is highlighted followed by an overview of growing problem of water crisis in the World and India. Secondly, the constraints and challenges of groundwater management in the developing nations are described. Thirdly, the modern concepts of water management, together with the principles of sustainable groundwater management are discussed. Finally, considering the enormity and severity of water problems in the developing countries (including India), a wakeup call is sounded. It is emphasized that the modern concepts coupled with emerging tools and techniques for water management hold a great promise for the sustainable management of groundwater resources in the developed and developing countries.

Major Ground Water Development Issues in South Asia- An Overview -- Part I. Groundwater Development Problems in Arid and Semi-Arid & Hilly Areas -- Water Management in Arid and Semi- Arid Areas of India -- Frontiers of Hardrock Hydrogeology in India -- Characterisation of a Deep Saline Aquifer Using Oil Exploration Data in an Arid Region of Rajasthan, India -- Sustainable Management of Groundwater in Hard Rock Aquifers of South Andaman and Rutland Islands, India -- Part II. Ground Water Management in Alluvial and Coastal Areas -- Groundwater Management in Alluvial, Coastal and Hilly Areas -- Findings of Large Ground Water Development Potential in Deeper Aquifers in Karnafully – Feni Interfluves, Chittagong, Bangladesh—A New Scientific Initiative -- Sustainable Water Resource Management in the Indian Sundarbans Delta -- Part III. Conservation of Ground Water -- Conservation of Water: Artificial Recharge to Groundwater -- Interrelationship Between Surface and Groundwater: The Case of West Bengal -- Integrated Watershed Management and Ground Water Recharging – Initiatives of Centre for Ground Water Studies – A Public Private Partnership Endeavour -- Part IV. Advance Research in Ground Water -- Application of Modern Geophysical Techniques for Identification of Groundwater Potential Areas -- Role of Remote Sensing and GIS in Integrated Water Resources Management -- Modeling of Aquifer System: A Tool for Groundwater Management -- Application of Environmental Isotopes in Hydrological Investigation with Case Studies -- Part V. Contaminated Ground Water & its Mitigation -- Arsenic and Fluoride Contamination in Groundwater: Mitigation Strategies -- Community-based Defluoridation of Groundwater by Electrocoagulation Followed by Activated Alumina Adsorption -- Variation of arsenic accumulation in paddy plant with special reference to rice grain and its additional entry during post harvesting technology -- Human Health Hazards due to Arsenic and Fluoride Contamination in Drinking Water and Food Chain -- Arsenic Menace in West Bengal (India) and its Mitigation through Toolbox intervention – An experience to share -- Part VI. Climate Change and its Impact in Ground Water -- Impact of Climate Change on Groundwater System -- Part VII. Community Involvement & Participatory Management -- Participatory groundwater management in the flood plains of north Bihar: Preliminary results of arsenic distribution -- Spring Protection and Management: Examples from Recent Programmes from across India’s Mountainous Regions -- Part VIII. Ground Water Development Issues & Sustainable Solutions -- Ground Water Development Issues & Sustainable Solutions.

Nigeria has greater challenges when it comes to groundwater development and management. The management of the resource is lagging behind the pace of development, and often, very little control is exercised in its exploitation. The current groundwater resources development and supply status is unacceptably low and needs a major transformation. With the rapid growth in population, urbanization, industrialization and competition for economic development, groundwater resource has become vulnerable to depletion and degradation. Management of this valuable resource is determined by its acceptability and utilizability in terms of quantity and quality. Due to imbalance between demand and availability, management approaches are facing various ethical dilemas. Against this context, relevant questions present themselves: What is the real extent of the problems? Why are the present efforts so limited? ; and what can be done to change the situation, to start on a path to more sustainable and equitable development and management of groundwater resources? To be able to adequately address the questions and devise intelligent answers, an analysis of the present impediments deserves attention. Only by clarifying the constraints and addressing them, will any significant changes be possible, let alone occur. This paper therefore emphasizes that the machinery of groundwater resources development and management needs an urgent overhauling with the aim of streamlining the overlapping functions of the various agencies that have operated the system up till now. More importantly, the paper suggested integrated approaches/strategies for sustainable management as well as offers some relevant policy recommendations for groundwater management in Nigeria. Key words: Groundwater resources, groundwater management, groundwater policy, sustainability, groundwater utilization, Nigeria.

This paper discusses certain issues related to groundwater management within the context of the Brazilian national policy for water resources management. In order to investigate the importance of this water supply source, we interviewed groundwater users in the city of São Paulo, where some 57% of the total water supply comes from this source, and surveyed some of the factors affecting the use of this alternative. These include the existence of a good supply of groundwater, an inadequate public water supply system unable to meet user demands, the degradation of fresh water sources and the reduction in costs involved. Preliminary conclusions suggest the inadequacy of the present system of water resources management, which has not yet integrated the use of groundwater reserves into an overall national program for water resources management.

Chapter 30 - Groundwater management in Brazil: current status and challenges for sustainable utilization

A brief history of irrigation development in Australia is provided. The water property rights, institutional reform in water resources management, national groundwater resources and use, characteristics of groundwater irrigation development, drivers for change in groundwater management, national framework for groundwater management, sustainable yield and groundwater licensing, management and trade in Australia are discussed. Case studies on integrated management of surface and groundwaters in the Murray-Darling Basin and on integration of state and national groundwater policy in New South Wales are presented.

One of the important events in the field of Geology especially Hydrology and Hydrogeology was jointly organized by Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune and Geological Society of India, Begaluru during 10th - 11th January 2019. The present event was associated with various brain storming sessions to pin-point the status, potentials, management issues and strategies, especially pertaining to the water resources of western and central regions of India covering the six major states, namely, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. All these states have unique set up of geology, geomorphology, climatic diversities in addition to the well established hydrological and hydrogeological characteristics. This brain storming event was jointly organized to brought out the above mentioned special volume - 12 ( ix + 261 pages). This special volume has been grouped under the very explicit themes, defining i) Water resources of western and central regions of India: perspectives, ii) Resource potential and development and iii) Resource management and strategies: science and technology. The publication comprises in all 25 articles, covering mainly three themes. The first theme encompasses the volumetric data on entire reserves of water resources of western and central regions of India, under which the three research papers have been published. This theme clearly brings out that “India is the largest user of surface and groundwater across the globe and hence the challenges are equally complex”. Also, the schemes/policies to manage the both water resources should be site-specific because hydrological and hydrogeological set ups of the states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh are all together different. Hence, an integrated approach in the water resource management and their regulatory mechanism need to be given specific “vision” for the further future developments. The second theme appears to be very comprehensive by including all the states of western and central regions of India and apprehends the surface and groundwater resource potential of the states covered by these regions of India. The data-base of surface water as well as groundwater resources are discussed in detail from the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh as well as Goa with their unique hydrological and hydrogeological distinctiveness. Some research papers attract the viewer's attention for their particular orientation in degradation of water quality due to sea water intrusions at the sites of coastal Maharashtra; water crisis in Gujarat; ground water quality worsening in parts of Rajasthan with emphasis on fluoride problems and the contamination potential of groundwater from Goa. In addition, the pragmatic approach of groundwater conservation and artificial recharge strategies in Madhya Pradesh has been very well dealt with! An overview of the data-base has also been supplied for the groundwater resources in some of the states as well as management issues and future strategies for sustainability have also been discussed in greater detail. The third theme has been based on the induction of science and technological edge for the water resource management and the strategies implemented in western and central parts of India. “Water resource management in India: a peep through ages” is a plausible rendition on ancient water resource management systems in India. The two other papers are interesting and very specific in their core premise, i) groundwater management at the interface of an aquifer and the community and ii) a case study from upper Nira River Basin for delineation of phreatic basaltic aquifers. Besides, two research papers make us to apprehend the heap of data-base from two neighbours, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Herein, the subjects like groundwater scenario, issues and management strategies have been argued, and also highlighted the quality issues (salinity, nitrate, fluoride), cropped out from the arid and semi arid Rajasthan. The authors have aptly tried to put their manuscripts very clearly with their research findings and field traverse recordings. This special volume accomplishes the integrated comprehensive outlook of hydrogeological settings of western and the central parts of India with immense data given through more than 140 figures and 110 tables. The authors' wide experience and the placing of the thematic approach for the research findings are the added merit of this special volume. I personally feel that this special volume is an ideal data-set for researchers, trainee hydrogeologists, NGOs and even the geo-scientists working in various organizations/ institutions dealing with hydrology/ hydrogeology. I congratulate both the authors for their contribution in aptly combining the “treasure” of ground water resource data as well as the Geological Society of India, Bengaluru for bringing out this volume in very praise worthy form.

The study was conducted in Lake Awassa catchment 275 km south of Addis Ababa to assess the problems that arise as a result of improper development and utilization of groundwater resources and to recommend management options by giving particular emphasis to investigate current status of groundwater structures and management practices. The hydrology of the basin was characterized by land use, soil, rainfall, temperature, evapotranspiration, wind speed, sunshine hours, relative humidity and runoff. In order to determine the basic hydrologic parameters, meteorological data was collected from the stations in and around the lake Awassa catchment. The amount of groundwater that is currently being used for domestic and non-domestic purposes in the basin is 17.8 million cubic meter. The net total amount of water that is actually available to recharge the groundwater circulation within the Lake Awassa catchment is 218.79 million cubic meter. Currently, 233 groundwater structures are found developed in different parts of the study area. Out of these 49 are non functional. Among the developed groundwater structures dominantly nonfunctional is hand dug wells, which comprises 29.55% of the total constructed hand dug wells. The hand dug wells are followed by shallow wells (25%), springs (19.75%) and boreholes (10%). Poor management of the constructed schemes, lack of awareness at community level, spare part problems, and construction problems are the major causes of the failure of the groundwater structures. Utilization of groundwater in the functional ones is not conducted on the basis of recommended values that were set based on the hydrogeological parameters during the development of the structures. Discharging hours are increased to satisfy the water demands of different users. Currently, groundwater is developed without groundwater management plan in uncoordinated manner by governmental and nongovernmental organizations and also privately.At present, the amount of natural recharge in the basin is more than the abstraction. The problem is not lack of water; it is rather absence of or poor management. This is mainly due to lack of efficient groundwater management organization at sub-basin level. Management of groundwater resources is crucial for better development and optimum utilization of the groundwater resources of the basin and to avoid any adverse effects. Therefore it is necessary to establish an efficient groundwater management organization that can conduct detailed groundwater management studies of the basin, follow the objectives of the national water resources management policy and also effectively implement. Keywords: Aquifer ; Ethiopia;Groundwater management; Hydrogeology;Lake Awsasa DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/75-02 Publication date: May 31 st 2021

The amount of groundwater that is currently being used for domestic and non-domestic purposes in the basin is 17.8 million cubic meter. The net total amount of water that is actually available to recharge the groundwater circulation within the Lake Awassa catchment is 218.79 million cubic meter. Currently, 233 groundwater structures are found developed in different parts of the study area. Out of these 49 are non functional. Among the developed groundwater structures dominantly nonfunctional is hand dug wells, which comprises 29.55% of the total constructed hand dug wells. The hand dug wells are followed by shallow wells (25%), springs (19.75%) and boreholes (10%). Poor management of the constructed schemes, lack of awareness at community level, spare part problems, and construction problems are the major causes of the failure of the groundwater structures. Utilization of groundwater in the functional ones is not conducted on the basis of recommended values that were set based on the hydrogeological parameters during the development of the structures. Discharging hours are increased to satisfy the water demands of different users. Currently, groundwater is developed without groundwater management plan in uncoordinated manner by governmental and nongovernmental organizations and also privately.At present, the amount of natural recharge in the basin is more than the abstraction. The problem is not lack of water; it is rather absence of or poor management. This is mainly due to lack of efficient groundwater management organization at sub-basin level. Management of groundwater resources is crucial for better development and optimum utilization of the groundwater resources of the basin and to avoid any adverse effects. Therefore it is necessary to establish an efficient groundwater management organization that can conduct detailed groundwater management studies of the basin, follow the objectives of the national water resources management policy and also effectively implement. Keywords: Aquifer ; Ethiopia;Groundwater management; Hydrogeology;Lake Awsasa DOI: 10.7176/JEES/10-12-01 Publication date: December 31 st 2020

The Haute Sarine alpine valley is located at an average altitude of approximately 1'000 to 1'200 masl. It was formed in its southern part up to the area of Gstaad to the favour of a typical North-South tectonic fault according to the main structures of the Prealpes, then followed normal fault striking East-West to end up on the rock bolt of the Vanel hill. The late and postglacial period was marked by the deposition of glaciolacustrines, glaciofluviatile and flurecent fluviatile sediments which have filled the ice free valley bottom probably starting from a period older than the Bolling-Allerod interstadial. The depth of this overdeepening varies between 20 and more than 50 m of depth. Drillings which we carried out could document series of typical glaciolacustrine sediments. The implementation of several geophysical survey methods (resistivity, seismic refraction and reflexion, well logs and pumping tests) enabled us to analyse several sources of information which we confronted between them in order to produce a 3D model of the quaternary deposits and their hydrological properties. Most of these sediments are relatively quite permeable and build a free groundwater reservoir that we subdivided into 3 parts. The basin of Gsteig in the south is closed, the valley having been blocked by a massive landslide that probably occurred in several successive stages starting at the first climate improvements. The second part, the basin of Feutersoey has not been retained as a potential important hydrogeologic resource based on our preliminary investigations. The last basin, that of Gstaad-Saanen is the largest and thickest. It is also in this basin that most of the tourist and industrial activities of the area are concentrated. The observation network was established in order to characterize the groundwater flows enabling us at the same time to carry out piezometric measurements and chemical as well as and bacteriological analyses. We also carried out a δ18O isotope analysis campaign. The whole of these approaches highlighted the particular characteristics of the groundwater recharge. The groundwater system is mainly fed by the Sarine and the precipitations infiltration. We also located an underground karstic feeding of evaporitic type. We finally propose a groundwater management and protection concept adapted to the particular situation of the Sarine alluvial mountain aquifer system on both quantitative and qualitative aspects. The high altitude alpine groundwater catchment areas such as the Haute Sarine represent as a whole a quality resource, with high potentials yet to be defined on a larger scale, for example by applying numerical modeling and by organizing and maintaining long term observation networks that will enable us to define a sustainable groundwater resource management within the alpine area.

Regional groundwater recharge is a critical scientific issue for sustainable groundwater resource development and management. However, spatial variations in groundwater recharge in the Loess Plateau （LP） remain poorly understood. To fill this knowledge gap, a systematic sampling campaign and stable isotope analysis were carried out for groundwater （shallow aquifer） in 13 major catchments during July 2019. The main objectives of this study were： ① to understandthe spatial distribution and influencing factors of stable isotopes in groundwater and ② to reveal the groundwater recharge sources and pathways and their spatial variations, combined with the precipitation stable isotope datasets. Stable isotopes in groundwater had poor spatial variations at the regional scale； however, they became isotopically depleted with the increase in annual average precipitation on the catchment scale （r = -0.87）. Compared with the stable isotope of precipitation, stable isotopes of groundwater were generally depleted and were similar to the precipitation of the rainy season （July-September）. These together indicated that there was pronounced seasonality of groundwater recharge, and the main recharge period was the rainy season. In particular, the recharge seasonality index （δP/G） was closely related to the catchment's average annual precipitation （r = -0.77） and leaf area index （r = -0.63）. In addition, groundwater lc-excess was generally negative, with the catchment-mean value ranging from -4.3‰ to -0.7‰. Hydrologically, this indicated that groundwater recharge pathways （ratio of matrix flow vs. preferential flow） were different among these catchments, which should be quantitatively determined by combining the saturated zone （groundwater） and the unsaturated zone （soil） in future work. Our findings can improve the understanding of groundwater recharge in LP and provide a scientific basis for sustainable management of groundwater resources at the regional scale.

Understanding the mechanisms and processes of groundwater recharge and evolution is critical for sustainable water resources management to meet human and agriculture needs under climate change, because groundwater is the primary water source in semiarid and arid regions, where the surface water resources are usually highly unstable and scarce. However, few studies investigated the recharge and evolution processes of groundwater combining with isotopic geochemistry and radiocarbon data, especially focused on the interactions among precipitation, surface water, groundwater, and rock. This study examined the recharge and evolution processes of groundwater in the Wuwei Basin based on stable isotopes, chemical indicators, and radiocarbon data. Our results showed that the Na+ (sodium ion) and K+ (potassium ion) concentrations of the groundwater were controlled by the dissolution of sylvite and halite origin from sediments, whereas the increase of Na+ and Cl− (chloride ion) concentrations were not in accordance with a ratio of 1:1, indicating that the Na+ and K+ concentrations in groundwater were barely affected by the dissolution of halite and sylvite. Meanwhile, we also found that bicarbonate ion (HCO3−) was the dominant ion with a decreased ratio in the groundwater. The SO42−/Cl− (sulfate ion/chloride ion) ratio decreased with the sample profile from Southwest to Northeast due mainly to the increases of Cl− concentration. The Ca2+/Cl− (calcium ion/chloride ion) ratio decreased with the enhancement of Cl− in the hydrodynamic sluggish belt. In addition, the δ18O (oxygen isotope) and δ2H (hydrogen isotope) values of groundwater gradually increased from Southwest to Northeast along the flow path. The heavy isotopic values were more strongly depleted than the isotopic values of precipitation in the ground water samples, suggesting that the recharge of ground water in the plain region was very limited from precipitation. Moreover, the groundwater in the phreatic aquifer was younger water with 3H (tritium isotope) values from 47 to 71 a.BP (before present), while the groundwater age in the confined aquifer was 1000–5800 BP evidenced by the 14C (carbon isotope) values between 48 and 88 pmc (percentage modern carbon content). Overall, these results suggested that the unconfined groundwater enriched along the overall groundwater flow path from the southwest to northeast of the Wuwei Basin and the melt water from the Qilian Mountains may determine the water isotopic composition and contributed to the steady long-term runoff of the Shiyang River. Our findings may have important implications for inter-basin water allocation programmes and groundwater management in the Wuwei Basin.

The hydrogeological setup of India represents a wide variation, from rugged Himalayan mountainous region in the north, extensive Indo-Ganga-Brahmaputra floodplain and deltaic region in the central and eastern part, aeolian- alluvial deposits in the west, vast basalt flows in the west central part, gently undulating central and southern region underlain by Precambrian crystalline, sedimentary and metamorphic, coastal deposits along the east coast etc. The research on hydrogeology has got special socioeconomic significance because India is now the largest extractor of groundwater in the world. The impact of overexploitation of the resource is surfacing in large parts of the country, in the form of lowering of water level, dwindling yield of well and deterioration in water quality. In recent years, extensive studies have been carried out in this field of geoscience. We have discussed these in different segments, after enumerating the broad hydrological framework of India. The segments are 1. Hydrogeological investigations in Indo-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plains holding one of the potential aquifer systems 2. Groundwater chemistry and contamination issues in Peninsular India 3. Urban hydrogeology 4. Groundwater modeling 5. Ground water exploration 6. Groundwater recharge and associated quality issues 7. Remote sensing and GIS applications 8. Coastal aquifers and 9. Groundwater management. It is observed that the potential groundwater reserve in the Indo-Gangetic basin and the Peninsular part of India has two serious issues: 1. Overexploitation of groundwater mainly in the western and north western parts and also in southern peninsular India in pockets and 2. Groundwater quality deterioration by anomalous concentration of arsenic, fluoride and salinity. The findings of the research will help in understanding the hydrogeological complexities in its entire gamut and also offers insight into the ways for sustainable management of groundwater resource of the country.

In the Pra Basin of Ghana, groundwater is increasingly becoming the alternative water supply due to the continual pollution of surface water resources through illegal mining and indiscriminate waste discharges into rivers. However, our understanding of hydrogeology and the dynamics of groundwater quality remains inadequate, posing challenges for sustainable water resource management. This study aims to characterize groundwater recharge by determining its origin and mechanism of recharge prior to entering the saturated zone and to provide spatial estimates of groundwater recharge using stable isotopes and water level measurements relevant to groundwater management in the basin. Ninety (90) water samples (surface water and groundwater) were collected to determine stable isotope ratios of oxygen (δ18O) and hydrogen (δ2H) and chloride concentration. In addition, ten boreholes were installed with automatic divers to collect time series data on groundwater levels for the 2022 water year. The Chloride Mass Balance (CMB) and the Water Table Fluctuation (WTF) methods were employed to estimate the total amount and spatial distribution of groundwater recharge for the basin. Analysis of the stable isotope data shows that the surface water samples in the Pra Basin have oxygen (δ18O) and hydrogen (δ2H) isotope ratios ranging from −2.8 to 2.2‰ vrs V-SMOW for δ18O and from −9.4 to 12.8‰ vrs V-SMOW for δ2H, with a mean of −0.9‰ vrs V-SMOW and 0.5‰ vrs V-SMOW, respectively. Measures in groundwater ranges from −3.0 to −1.5‰ vrs V-SMOW for δ18O and from −10.4 to −2.4‰ vrs V-SMOW for δ2H, with a mean of −2.3 and −7.0‰ vrs V-SMOW, respectively. The water in the Pra Basin originates from meteoric source. Groundwater has a relatively depleted isotopic signature compared to surface water due to the short residence time of infiltration within the extinction depth of evaporation in the vadose zone. Estimated evaporative losses in the catchment range from 51 to 77%, with a mean of 62% for surface water and from 55 to 61% with a mean of 57% for groundwater, respectively. Analysis of the stable isotope data and water level measurements suggests a potential hydraulic connection between surface water and groundwater. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the isotopes of groundwater have comparatively lower values than surface water. Furthermore, the observation that the groundwater level remains constant in months with lower rainfall further supports this conclusion. The estimated annual groundwater recharge in the catchment ranges from 9 to 667 mm (average 165 mm) and accounts for 0.6% to 33.5% (average 10.7%) of mean annual precipitation. The total estimated mean recharge for the study catchment is 228 M m3, higher than the estimated total surface water use for the entire Pra Basin of 144 M m3 for 2010, indicating vast groundwater potential. Overall, our study provides a novel insight into the recharge mechanism and spatial quantification of groundwater recharge, which can be used to constrain groundwater flow and hydrogeochemical evolution models, which are crucial for effective groundwater management within the framework of the Pra Basin’s Integrated Water Resources Management Plan.

The socio‐economic aspects of groundwater development and management are briefly examined and set against a background of highly technical management. The variability of socio‐economic responses to groundwater and the problems of engaging large numbers of individual users are highlighted. The paper argues that social, institutional and political factors are the primary obstacles to sustainable management of the world's groundwater resources.