Network design for groundwater level monitoring in Upper Bari Doab Canal tract, Punjab, India

Abstract

AbstractA geostatistical technique based on the theory of regionalized variables offers efficient tools for the design of groundwater level monitoring networks. The existing network of groundwater observation wells in the state of Punjab is randomly scattered which does not depict the correct picture of the water table over large areas. The adequacy of the existing observation wells network in the Upper Bari Doab Canal tract was examined by using universal kriging and specified the optimal locations for possible reduction or addition of observation wells for a given level of accuracy. It was found that the present level of accuracy can be maintained by a 12% reduction in the number of existing observation wells. A considerable improvement in the present level of accuracy was estimated by locating additional observation wells hypothetically in the areas having a high estimation error. For further improvement, a square pattern network at 5 km is proposed, having a maximum estimation error of 2.33 m at the centre of the grid. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to test other alternative networks for their efficiency and economic soundness. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.