Development and Application of the Integrated GIS-MODFLOW Model

Abstract

Water scarcity is the major problem faced by today’s world. Groundwater is the most valuable resource of drinking water due to the scarcity of good quality surface water. Groundwater occurs in hard rock layers whose thickness may vary from few meters to 100 m. Aquifer stores the groundwater and yielded the water at the time of pumping. A groundwater model was developed for Kanpur city, a fast growing City of Uttar Pradesh, India. Progressive increase in the land reclamation projects, continuous population growth and increasing industrial water demand, an efficient water resource management plan was needed for the city. Groundwater extraction is increasing excessively due to the high river water contamination. For the better management of groundwater, steady state groundwater flow model was conceptualized for 10 years from January 2007 to December 2017. This three-layer model was calibrated for 7 years to symbolize the actual field condition and validated for 3 years. In groundwater flow model preparation, Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were integrated to simulate the groundwater flow. This integration of GIS and groundwater flow model was very helpful in evaluating the groundwater potential zones and generating the various possible scenarios for management and prediction of groundwater. The results of the current study confirm that the ground-water aquifer in Kanpur city is prone to significant water head reduction, especially in the high elevation zones. Therefore, there is need of an efficient integrated and sustainable management plan for the groundwater resources to minimize the impact of too much extraction of groundwater in the study area.