Abstract
Demand for groundwater for drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes has increased due to uncertainty in the surface water supply. Agriculture is the main occupation of the rural people in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Development of groundwater in the district is very less, indicating a lot of scope for further development of groundwater resources. However, assessment of groundwater conditions, particularly in a crystalline terrain, is a complex task because of variations in weathering and fracturing zones from place to place. Systematic studies for evaluation of groundwater potential zones have been carried out in a crystalline terrain of the district. Information on soils, geological formations and groundwater conditions is collected during the hydrogeological survey. Topographical and drainage conditions are derived from the Survey of India topographical maps. Geomorphological units and associated landform features inferred and delineated from the Indian remote sensing satellite imagery (IRS ID LISS III FCC) are moderately buried pediplain (BPM), shallow buried pediplain (BPS), valley fills (VF), structural hill (SH), residual hills (RH), lineaments and land use/land cover. A groundwater potential index (GPI) is computed for relative evaluation of groundwater potential zones in the study area by integrating all the related factors of occurrence and movement of groundwater resources. Accordingly, the landforms, BPM, BPS, VF, SH and RH, of the area are categorized as very good groundwater potential zone, good to moderate groundwater potential zone, moderate to poor groundwater potential zone, poor to very poor groundwater potential zone and very poor groundwater potential zone, respectively, for development and utilization of both groundwater and surface water resources for eliminating water scarcity. This study could help to improve the agrarian economy for better living conditions of the rural people. Taking the total weight-score of the GPI into account, a generalized classification of groundwater potential zones is evaluated for a quick assessment of the occurrence of groundwater resources on regional scale.
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Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi 110 016, India, for providing financial assistance under Major Research Project (ESS/72/023/98) entitled “Assessment and Management of Groundwater Resources in a Part of Crystalline Terrain of Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India” during 1999–2002. The author is also thankful to Mr. D. John Devadas, DST-Research Scholar (1999–2002), Department of Geology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, India, for his assistance in the field as well as in the laboratory work. The author is also thankful to Mr. I. Bangaru Raju, Research Scholar, Department of Geology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, India, for his help during the preparation of high-quality computer graphics. The valuable comments made by the anonymous referees were useful for improving this manuscript.
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Subba Rao, N. Groundwater potential index in a crystalline terrain using remote sensing data. Environ Geol 50, 1067–1076 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0280-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0280-7