• Corpus ID: 128914270

Importance of irrigation return flow on the groundwater budget of a rural basin in India

@article{Marchal2003ImportanceOI,
  title={Importance of irrigation return flow on the groundwater budget of a rural basin in India},
  author={Jean‐Christophe Mar{\'e}chal and Laurent Galeazzi and Benoit Dewandel and Shakeel Ahmed},
  journal={IAHS-AISH publication},
  year={2003},
  pages={62-67}
}

• J. Maréchal, L. Galeazzi, +1 author Shakeel Ahmed
• Published 2003
• Environmental Science
• IAHS-AISH publication

In many areas of India, the assessment of groundwater balance at the basin scale is a very important challenge for better management of this resource that is stressed by high exploitation through pumping for irrigation. A methodology is presented and applied to a case study in a hard-rock area. The methodology is based on the relationship between the water balance over a given period and resulting water level fluctuations (Water Table Fluctuation method). It is found that the main positive term of the budget is the return flow from paddy fields irrigation. From June 2001 to June 2002, despite normal rainfall, the annual balance is a little bit negative, inducing a general water level depletion of 1.18 m. Decreases of the pumping rate, or water harvesting measures and artificial recharge of the basin are necessary to reverse this deficit and to ensure sustainable management of the groundwater resource.