Estimation of change in groundwater storage and draft from rainfall to achieve good irrigation practices

Abstract

Groundwater is the main source to fulfill various needs where surface water is scarce. Sinnar a Tahsil of Nasik District, Maharashtra, India is one of such places where irrigation demand is fulfilled by groundwater only. Authors have conducted hydrological budget studies for the study area and found out change in groundwater storage and mining coefficient for 19 years. GRACE satellite is available to find accurate quantity of groundwater storage change. But it does not focus on extent of mining. Only water budget studies give that idea. In this paper, using multiple linear regression (MLR), authors have developed two empirical formulae to find change in groundwater storage and draft using rainfall. Mining is commonly observed in the areas where groundwater is the only source. Mining if found can be controlled by extracting appropriate amount of water. Authors have tried to estimate draft using one of the developed formulas. With the estimated draft and change in storage one can plan better irrigation practices for the study area.