Excessive Groundwater Pumping Research Articles

Modeling of seawater intrusion into Salalah coastal plain aquifer, sultanate of Oman

Excessive groundwater pumping has become a concern in Salalah coastal aquifer in Oman causing seawater intrusion at different farms and abstraction wells near the shoreline. MODFLOW and MT3DMS were calibrated and validated for Salalah coastal aquifer to assess aquifer behavior and seawater intrusion pattern with new input data and fine grid spacing to improve the accuracy of predictions as compared to the previous modeling studies in this region. The study was conducted over an area of 640 km2 of Salalah Plain representing around 83% of its total area. Injection of tertiary treated wastewater, rainfall and dams were considered as sources of aquifer recharge while groundwater abstraction occurred for agricultural, domestic, and commercial uses. The calibration and validation of the models were done in steady and transient states using observed groundwater levels from year 2000–2019. The aquifer properties such as hydraulic conductivity, specific yield, and vertical anisotropy were calibrated. MODFLOW results were utilized by MT3DMS to simulate solute transport at transient state. The longitudinal dispersivity and porosity of the aquifer were obtained by calibration and validation of the model. Over the three aquifer layers, the hydraulic conductivity ranges from 10 m/day to 100 m/day, vertical anisotropy is 4 and the specific yield ranges from 0.01 to 0.1. The calibrated values of the longitudinal dispersivity and porosity range from 500 m to 50000 m, and 0.4, respectively. The study indicated a clear impact of seawater intrusion at coastal side of the Salalah plain. The predictive modeling indicated an average of 1.5 m drop in hydraulic head across the whole study area by 2040, while seawater intrusion effect was expected to increase near the coast with potential extension to the central area of the Salalah plain. The validated model can be used as a prediction tool by the decision makers to manage the aquifer considering different scenarios, for integrated water resources management in Salalah city.

A call for an accurate presentation of glaciers as water resources

AbstractGlaciers are often portrayed as an important water resource in scientific research and public debate. However, the scientific literature calls for caution when presenting this idea. While melting glaciers can increase water insecurity, their contribution to runoff is often minor and other factors like excessive groundwater pumping for irrigation or surface and groundwater contamination pose much greater threats to water availability. As we consider the wide range of environmental impacts due to glacier changes, we must also question the “glacier as water resource” narrative that may unnecessarily contribute to public anxiety.This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water as Imagined and Represented Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change

SAFER-ET based assessment of irrigation patterns and impacts on groundwater use in the central Punjab, Pakistan

The excessive pumping of groundwater during the dry season in Pakistan is identified as a significant concern for groundwater sustainability. Farmers encounter difficulties in efficiently managing irrigation, and adopting the outputs of Irrigation Advisory System (IAS) to improve irrigation practices. Upgrading the existing IAS can help to identify the regions with over-irrigation issues and optimize outreach efforts. To solve these issues, we define the new concept of integrating Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) total water storage anomalies (TWSA) and Landsat 8 imageries, which can enhance the IAS efficiency by accurately identifying regions facing groundwater depletion by estimating actual crop water consumption through application of the Simple Algorithm For Evapotranspiration Retrieving (SAFER) on Landsat 8 data and Penman-Monteith (PM) method was used to calculate crop water demand using meteorological forcing data from Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) over the five selected districts of Punjab during the dry seasons of year 2013–2020. Comparing actual water consumption (SAFER evapotranspiration (ET)) with in-situ groundwater depth, strong correlations were found between them that are supporting the use of Landsat 8 data for irrigation monitoring. Further, compared SAFER ET was with PM ET to calculate the percentage of over/under irrigated regions, and the results revealed that most of the selected districts were over-irrigated, indicating the potential for excessive irrigation water savings. Our results show that the integration of GRACE TWSA and Landsat 8 data enhance the efficiency of operational IAS and can lead to potential savings of 81% (equivalent to 155 million m3) of groundwater during the dry season in the Central Punjab, Pakistan. Satellite data integration globally enhances IAS implementation, aiding regions with unsustainable dry season irrigation. This empowers farmers to optimize agriculture through precise IAS outputs.

Assessing Artificial Recharge on Groundwater Quantity Using Wells Recharge

In arid and semi-arid countries like Iraq, which suffer from water scarcity due to the effects of climate change and decreased surface water flow, groundwater is considered a vital source of irrigation water. This study is concerned with the influence of artificial recharge on the rehabilitation of the unconfined aquifer called Al-Dibdibba, located between the cities of Najaf and Kerbala in central Iraq around 31°550′ N and 32°450′ N and 43°300′ E and 44°300′ E. Due to excessive groundwater pumping rates for irrigation, this aquifer has suffered from groundwater decline and increased salinization during the previous 20 years. By establishing a conceptual model in the groundwater modeling system software (GMS), a numerical model was made to simulate groundwater flow. Artificial recharge using recycled water (tertiary treatment) from Kerbala's primary WWTP was carried out using 25 injection wells. The model was calibrated against historical and observed water level data for periods from 2016 to 2017. Three scenarios to predict how the aquifer would act with artificial recharge of 5%, 8%, and 10% from the total daily outflow of the WWTP in Kerbala (100000 m3/day) were studied. The calibration model met the observed values of groundwater levels with R2 = 0.989 for steady-state simulations and R2 = 0.987 for transient simulations. In the final analysis of the simulation, the results show that the maximum predicted groundwater level was raised by the injection of treated water through 25 wells by 1.05 m for 5000 m3/day, 2 m for 8000 m3/day, and 3 m for 10,000 m3/day recharge pumping rates. In addition, if water were pumped into the aquifer, it might support the development of agricultural lands covering more than 93 km2. So, artificial recharge can be considered one of the important solutions to adaptation to the effects of climate change and desertification in Iraq. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-09-010 Full Text: PDF

Comparative insights of Land Subsidence in Coastal Zones for Japan and Indonesia

Worldwide coastal cities face growing threats from environmental factors such as land subsidence. This study compares the policies implemented by the Tokyo and Semarang Governments to address the issue of land subsidence. The study aims to analyze the condition of land subsidence in the two cities and to identify successful adaptation patterns that can serve as a reference for other coastal cities facing similar issues. The method used in this study is a literature review of references that discuss land subsidence and related policies. The findings indicate that the Tokyo government has successfully tackled the problem of excessive groundwater pumping which is the leading cause of land subsidence and reconstructed the coastal areas that were prone to flooding due to subsidence. The Semarang government has implemented Regional Government plans to address the issue, but floods still inundate many coastal areas and many communities are still affected. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen embankments and coastal construction to prevent flooding along the entire Semarang coast. A more comprehensive approach and long-term planning are necessary to manage land subsidence risks effectively. The study's findings provide insights that can help other coastal cities to address the issue and mitigate its impacts.

Predicting Short-Term Deformation in the Central Valley Using Machine Learning

Land subsidence caused by excessive groundwater pumping in Central Valley, California, is a major issue that has several negative impacts such as reduced aquifer storage and damaged infrastructures which, in turn, produce an economic loss due to the high reliance on crop production. This is why it is of utmost importance to routinely monitor and assess the surface deformation occurring. Two main goals that this paper attempts to accomplish are deformation characterization and deformation prediction. The first goal is realized through the use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) applied to a series of Interferomtric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images that produces eigenimages displaying the key characteristics of the subsidence. Water storage changes are also directly analyzed by the use of data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) twin satellites and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS). The second goal is accomplished by building a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to predict short-term deformation after developing an InSAR time series using LiCSBAS, an open-source InSAR time series package. The model is applied to the city of Madera and produces better results than a baseline averaging model and a one dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN) based on a mean squared error metric showing the effectiveness of machine learning in deformation prediction as well as the potential for incorporation in hazard mitigation models. The model results can directly aid policy makers in determining the appropriate rate of groundwater withdrawal while maintaining the safety and well-being of the population as well as the aquifers’ integrity.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM AND MODELING APPROACH FOR GROUNDWATER SYSTEMS OF RECHNA DOAB, PAKISTAN

Excessive groundwater pumping in Rechna Doab has caused a depletion of aquiferbody. Efforts were made to identify the ground flow dynamics and recharge sources of Rechna Doab.Finite difference model technique was used to study the groundwater system under steady state. VisualMODFLOW 2000 was used to steady state simulation of study area. Simulation of groundwater flowover an area of about 35,217 km2 with a uniform grid size of 2500m by 2500m was done. Study areawas divided into the grid of 138 rows and 100 columns. The seepage losses from canals, horizontalflows, recharge from precipitation and irrigation return flows were put to develop conceptual model.Discharge of canals, evapotranspiration and precipitation data was collected from local governmentagencies. Boundary conditions, hydraulic parameters and data of 50 observation wells were applied formodel calibration. The zone budget study under steady state simulation showed that the total directrecharge to the aquifer was 645.48 MCM and total drought of the aquifer was 645.49 MCM. Based onresults it was concluded that model was more sensitive to hydraulic conductivity and rechargeparameters.

Mapping the spatiotemporal evolution of seawater intrusion in the Moroccan coastal aquifer of Ghiss-Nekor using GIS-based modeling

The impact of seawater intrusion on coastal aquifers is a major concern in managing groundwater resources. The unconfined coastal aquifer of Ghiss-Nekor, located in a semi-arid area, is particularly vulnerable to seawater intrusion (SWI) because of excessive groundwater pumping and climate change impacts. Therefore, the main goal of the present work is to track the spatiotemporal evolution of SWI in the Ghiss-Nekor aquifer by analyzing data from the years 2015 and 2022 using appropriate geochemical approaches. Accordingly, a range of geochemical techniques were employed, including the Piper diagram, Chadha's diagram, Gibbs diagram, Stiff diagram, major ions variation maps, Hydrochemical Facies Evolution Diagrams (HFE-D), and seawater fraction (fsea). As a result, Gibbs diagram clearly indicates the contribution of seawater to the salinization of the Ghiss-Nekor aquifer. Further information is provided by the Piper, Chadha, and Stiff diagrams, which reveal that 29%–38% of the wells studied display Na–Cl water type, a characteristic feature of seawater facies. Additionally, statistical analysis shows a significant increase in salinity levels between 2015 and 2022. Furthermore, the spatiotemporal analysis using the differential mapping technique (DMT) confirmed the increase of salinity, particularly near the shoreline. Additionally, the HFE-D showed that the region impacted by SWI increased from 14% to 20% between 2015 and 2022, and the maximum fsea value rose from 14.84% to 25.77% over the same time frame. Our findings reinforce the assumption that SWI is worsening over time in the Ghiss-Nekor aquifer. In summary, the techniques used in this study were effective in tracking the spatiotemporal evolution of SWI in the aquifer and in quantifying it. The results of this study can inform the development of effective strategies for managing SWI in coastal aquifers.

How much groundwater is there, and how long will it last?

How much groundwater is there, and how long will it last? Inspired by decades of excessive groundwater pumping and aquifer depletion, GEOWAT will answer the question: How much groundwater is there and how long will it last? GEOWAT will use unique global modelling tools and case studies to assess the global volume of physically and economically extractable fresh groundwater, and determine the time to physical and economic depletion under future pumping.

Sensitivity analysis of factors controlling earth fissures due to excessive groundwater pumping

Aseisimic earth fissures are complex consequences of groundwater withdrawal and natural hydrogeologic conditions. This paper aims to improve the understanding of the mechanism of earth fissuring and investigate the relative importance of various factors to fissure activity, including bedrock geometry, piezometric depletion, compressibility and thickness of the exploited aquifer. For these purposes, a test case characterized by an impermeable and incompressible rock ridge in a subsiding basin is developed, where stress/displacement analyses and fissure state are predicted using an interface-finite element model. Three different methods for global sensitivity analysis are used to quantify the extent of the fissure opening to the aforementioned factors. The conventional sampling based Sobol’ sensitivity analysis is compared to two surrogate based methods, the general polynomial chaos expansion based Sobol’ analysis and a feature importance evaluation of a gradient boosting decision tree model. Numerical results indicate that earth fissure is forming in response to tensile stress accumulation above the ridge associated to pore-pressure depletion, inducing the fissure opening at land surface with further downward propagation. Sensitivity analysis highlights that the geometry of bedrock ridge is the most influential feature. Specifically, the fissure grows more when the ridge is steeper and closer to the land surface. Pore pressure depletion is a secondary feature and required to reach a certain threshold to activate the fissure. As for this specific application, the gradient boosting tree is the most suitable method for its better performance in capturing fissure characteristics.

Saltwater Intrusion into Coastal Aquifers and Associated Risk Management: Critical Review and Research Directives

Basack, S.; Loganathan, M.K.; Goswami, G., and Khabbaz, H., 2022. Saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers and associated risk management: Critical review and research directives. Journal of Coastal Research, 38(3), 654–672. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Coastal regions mainly rely on sources of local fresh groundwater for domestic, irrigational, and industrial usages, which are vulnerable to high-risk of getting intruded by saltwater. Excessive pumping of fresh groundwater initiates advances of saltwater-freshwater interface inward due to hydraulic equilibrium and continuity. This introduces saline water intrusion into coastal aquifers. This is also caused by natural hazards like sea-level rise and storm-surge. The saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers contaminates the freshwater storage, thereby emerging as a major environmental issue. To incorporate adequate coastal groundwater control and management techniques that are effective and conveniently implementable, understanding the phenomenon of saline water intrusion and the risk assessment is of utmost importance. Several scientific contributions including theoretical (analytical and numerical) solutions, experimental (laboratory and field) results, design recommendations, and risk analysis are available, indicating remarkable advances in the research area. The authors have attempted to summarize the significant contributions over the last few decades in each of these study aspects through extensive literature survey and critical analysis of the existing knowledge. It is observed that risk prevention and control methodologies such as qanat-well structure, shallow and deep wells might not be effective in many coastal areas as the complex intrusion process is yet to be understood clearly. Moreover, the high intensity coastal hazards that often occur due to climate change continue to make aquifers more vulnerable, adversely affecting the coastal groundwater management. The paper presents a critical overview of existing studies on saline water intrusion into coastal aquifers and associated risks and management techniques. Furthermore, adequate research directives with recommendations for future development are also provided.

Lumped geohydrological modelling for long-term predictions of groundwater storage and depletion

Excessive groundwater pumping exacerbates aquifer depletion and poses a major threat in regions all around the world that already suffer from overuse or climate change. In this situation, accurate and reliable predictions of long-term aquifer water balances are key prerequisites to manage groundwater sustainably. Compared to spatially explicit numerical models, lumped hydrological models are computationally fast, lean on data requirement and more accessable for quantifying uncertainty. However, lumped hydrological models are mainly designed to simulate river discharge only, not aquifer storage. Consequently, calibration only includes stream flow data. In this study, we hypothesize that we can extend a lumped hydrological models (here HBV) towards a lumped geohydrological model (LGhM) by additional, designated terms for water budget and groundwater storage. The model building is inspired by the geometry and hydrogeological large-scale properties of the catchment’s aquifers. Underground flow routing resembles major groundwater flow paths. The model is calibrated and evaluated on both groundwater storage data and surface discharge data. We apply our LGhM to a MODFLOW-based virtual reality describing the unconfined Wairau Plain Aquifer, New Zealand. We consider and discuss specifically river-groundwater exchange processes, long-term forecast of aquifer storage dynamics, and groundwater depletion in a hypothetical, persistent drought. Our model evaluation shows very plausible predictive capabilities in 40-year forecasts with synthetic weather time series and several years of groundwater depletion in the extreme drought case.

Conservation Tillage and Nutrient Strategies Enhances Crop-Water Productivity and Economic Profitability of Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L)

Decline in soil fertility is one of the major constraints to sustainable crop production and profitability. To meet the increasing demand for the growing population the issue of low soil fertility needs to be addressed moreover, excessive pumping of groundwater over the years to meet the high irrigation water requirement of rice-wheat system has resulted in over exploitation of groundwater in the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) of India. Replacement of traditional wheat cultivation practices under conservation agriculture (CA) based management (tillage, and crop establishment management) practices are required to promote sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, inefficient nutrient management practices are responsible for low crop yields and nutrient use efficiencies in wheat under rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS). A field experiment was conducted at Crop Research Centre of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut (U.P.), India to evaluate the effects of tillage and crop establishment (TCE) methods, and nutrient management practices on crop yields, water productivity and profitability of wheat under RWCS. The main plot treatments included four combinations of TCE [Furrow irrigated raised beds (FIRB), Roto tillage (RT), Reduced tillage (RTW) and conventional tillage (CT), with six nutrient management practices [N1 Control, N2 100% Recommend Dose of Fertilizer, N3 100% RDF + NPK consortia + Bio-stimulant, N4 75% RDF + NPK consortia + Bio-stimulant, N5 100% RDF + NPK consortia + Bio-stimulant + NPK (18:18:18) spray after II irrigation, and N6 and 75% RDF + NPK consortia + Bio-stimulant + NPK (18:18:18) spray after II irrigation]. Crop water productivity and net returns under FIRB were significantly increased by 11.7% and 13.8% compared to CT respectively, during year of experimentation. Study showed that conservation agriculture based sustainable practices (FIRB) and nutrient strategies 100% RDF + NPK consortia + Bio-stimulant + NPK (18:18:18) spray after II irrigation approach provided opportunities for enhancing crop and water productivity, and profitability of wheat crop in North-West IGP of India. Treatments with N and conservation agriculture were the most profitable. A combined use of conservation agriculture and organic and chemical fertilizers is the best bet for increasing, wheat crop yield and associated return on investment.

Results of land subsidence measurement using GPS method in the Jakarta groundwater basin in 2015-2019

The development of population and development activities in big cities in Indonesia, especially in the city of Jakarta and surrounding areas is very rapid. From several land subsidence studies, several factors have been identified that cause land subsidence, namely: excessive groundwater extraction, reduction due to building/infrastructure loads, subsidence due to natural consolidation of soft soil layers, and subsidence due to tectonic forces. At present the exploitation of ground water for industrial and residential needs is at a level that needs attention. Excessive pumping of groundwater will cause a decrease in the quantity of ground water, entry of seawater into the land (sea water intrusion) and land subsidence. Symptoms of the negative impact of land subsidence have been felt in several areas, especially in industrial areas located in the northern part of Jakarta. This land subsidence can be measured by GPS or satellite geodetic method, which have begun to develop in Indonesia in the past two decades. Measurements were made using the radial method at 53 GPS points in 2015 up to 100 measurement points in 2019 in Jakarta Groundwater Basin. The result of these campaign GPS surveys that is northern part of Jakarta relatively had higher subsidence rate than the southern. The largest subsidence almost reached 6.2 cm/year in Muara Baru in northern area which is southern area only suffered an average rate of 1.16 cm/year.

Apportioning deformation among depth intervals in an aquifer system using InSAR and head data

Land surface subsidence due to excessive groundwater pumping is an increasing concern in California, USA. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a remote sensing technique for measuring centimeter-to-millimeter surface deformation at 10–100 m spatial resolution. Here, a data-driven approach that attributes deformation to individual depth intervals within an aquifer system by integrating head data acquired from each of three screened intervals in a monitoring well with InSAR surface deformation measurements was developed. The study area was the Colusa Basin in northern Central Valley. To reconstruct the surface deformation history over the study area, 13 ALOS-PALSAR scenes acquired between 2006 and 2010 were processed. Up to ~3-cm year−1 long-term subsidence and up to ~6 cm seasonal subsidence were observed using the InSAR technique. The technique developed in this paper integrates the InSAR-observed seasonal deformation rate and the co-located head measurements in multiple depth intervals to estimate the elastic skeletal storage coefficient, the time delay between the head change and the observed deformation, and subsequently the deformation of each depth interval. This technique can be implemented when hydraulic head measurements within each depth interval are not correlated with each other. Using this approach, the depth interval that contributed the most to the total subsidence, as well as storage parameters for all intervals, are estimated. The technique can be used for identification of the depth interval within the aquifer system responsible for deformation.

Seawater intrusion characterization based on electrical resistivity and hydrogeochemical methods; surrounding Rosetta branch area, Egypt

Seawater intrusion (SWI) is one of the most common environmental issues in recent years, posing a threat to groundwater quality and sustainability, especially in coastal aquifers. The current climate changes linked to rising sea levels as well as the excessive pumping of groundwater, linked to the lack of natural recharge, have exacerbated this environmental problem. As a result, to characterize and detect seawater intrusion in this region. This paper presents a comprehensive combination of geoelectric methods represented by artificial vertical electrical soundings (VES) and hydrogeochemistry of groundwater. Vertical electrical resistivity values are obtained by Schlumberger's array of twenty-six VESes distributed all over the area using the Eleric-T device. However, the electrical resistivity sounding method succeeded to outline the aquifer depth, extension and thickness. The hydrogeochemical techniques outline the ions, cations, water types and water quality based on the chemical analysis of 26 groundwater samples. Both two types are contributed to emphasis the results. The VES results succeeded to describe the Pleistocene aquifer lithology and subdivides it into fresh, brackish and salt zones (freshwater – saltwater interface). The hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater samples through the physiochemical parameters, Chadha diagram, ionic relations and DWQI confirm the influence of SWI on the chemistry of groundwater in the concerned area. Consequently, these results confirm that the integration between the electrical resistivity and hydrochemical methods are effective tools for the characterization of seawater intrusion in this important region in terms of agricultural activity in Egypt.

Distributed memory parallel groundwater modeling for the Netherlands Hydrological Instrument

Worldwide, billions of people rely on fresh groundwater reserves for their domestic, agricultural and industrial water use. Extreme droughts and excessive groundwater pumping put pressure on water authorities in maintaining sustainable water usage. High-resolution integrated models are valuable assets in supporting them. The Netherlands Hydrological Instrument (NHI) provides the Dutch water authorities with open source modeling software and data. However, NHI integrated groundwater models often require long run times and large memory usage, therefore strongly limiting their application. As a solution, we present a distributed memory parallelization, focusing on the National Hydrological Model. Depending on the level of integration, we show that significant speedups can be obtained up to two orders of magnitude. As far as we know, this is the first reported integrated groundwater parallelization of an operational hydrological model used for national-scale integrated water management and policy making. The parallel model code and data are freely available.

Land subsidence assessment under excessive groundwater pumping using ESA Sentinel-1 satellite data: a case study of Konya Basin, Turkey

Land subsidence assessment under excessive groundwater pumping using ESA Sentinel-1 satellite data: a case study of Konya Basin, Turkey

Managing Water and Salt for Sustainable Agriculture in the Indus Basin of Pakistan

The Indus basin of Pakistan occupies about 16 million ha (Mha) of land. The Indus River and its tributaries are the primary sources of surface water. An estimated 122 km3 of surface water is diverted annually through an extensive canal system to irrigate this land. These surface water supplies are insufficient to meet the crop water requirements for the intensive cropping system practiced in the Indus basin. The shortfall in surface water is met by exploiting groundwater. Currently, about 62 km3 of groundwater is pumped annually by 1.36 million private and public tube wells. About 1.0 million tubewells are working only in the Punjab province. Small private tubewells account for about 80% of the pumped volume. Inadequate water allocation along the irrigation canals allows excessive water use by head-end farmers, resulting in waterlogging. In contrast, the less productive use of erratic supplies by tail-end farmers often results in soil salinity. The major issues faced by irrigated agriculture in Pakistan are low crop yields and water use efficiency, increasing soil salinization, water quality deterioration, and inefficient drainage effluent disposal. Currently, 4.5 Mha (about 30% of the total irrigated area) suffers from adverse salinity levels. Critical governance issues include inequitable water distribution, minimizing the extent to which salt is mobilized, controlling excessive groundwater pumping, and immediate repair and maintenance of the infrastructure. This paper suggests several options to improve governance, water and salt management to support sustainable irrigated agriculture in Pakistan. In saline groundwater areas, the rotational priorities should be reorganized to match the delivery schedules as closely as possible to crop demand, while emphasizing the reliability of irrigation schedules. Wherever possible, public tubewells should pump fresh groundwater into distributaries to increase water availability at the tail ends. Any substantial reform to make water delivery more flexible and responsive would require an amendment to the existing law and reconfiguration of the entire infrastructure, including thousands of kilometers of channels and almost 60,000 outlets to farmer groups. Within the existing political economy of Pakistan, changing the current water allocation and distribution laws without modernizing the infrastructure would be complicated. A realistic reform program should prioritize interventions that do not require amendment of the Acts or reconstruction of the entire system and are relatively inexpensive. If successful, such interventions may provide the basis for further, more substantial reforms. The present rotational water supply system should continue, with investments focusing on lining channels to ensure equitable water distribution and reduce waterlogging at the head ends. Besides that, the reuse of drainage water should be encouraged to minimize disposal volumes. The timely availability of farm inputs can improve individual farmers’ productivity. Farmers will need to have access to new information on improved irrigation management and soil reclamation approaches. Simultaneously, the government should focus more on the management of drainage and salinity.

Contrasting influence of human activities on agricultural and hydrological droughts in India

Human activities associated with intensive irrigation, reservoir storage, and groundwater pumping have substantially altered the hydrological cycle, environment, and regional climate in India. However, the role of human activities on water budget and droughts remains mostly unexplored. We use calibrated and evaluated Community Water Model (CWatM) to quantify the influence of human activities on agricultural (estimated using soil moisture) and hydrological (estimated using total runoff) droughts in India during 1951–2016. The simulations using the CWatM were conducted for the Natural (without human influence) and Human (with the human influence of irrigation, reservoir storage, and groundwater pumping) scenarios. Evapotranspiration and soil moisture increase while total runoff and groundwater storage decrease under the Human scenario in comparison to the Natural scenario. The dominant influence of human activities on agricultural and hydrological droughts was found during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. We find a contrasting effect of human activities on agricultural and hydrological droughts. While human activities reduced the intensity of agricultural droughts, hydrological droughts are intensified under the Human scenario. The intensification of hydrological droughts is linked to excessive water abstraction for irrigation. On the other hand, irrigation increases soil moisture and decreases the intensity of agricultural droughts. Overall, our findings highlight that excessive groundwater pumping and irrigation can intensify hydrological droughts, which can have considerable environmental implications.