ASSESSMENT OF DECLINATION OF GROUNDWATER LEVELS AND ITS POTENTIAL CAUSES IN KURUKSHETRA, HARYANA

Abstract

Present study was carried out for the Kuruskshetra district of Haryana with the principal objective to know the behavior or status of the Groundwater levels during 1991-2011 and to assess the factors responsible for its decline. For this, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) tools were integrated to prepare Land Use and Land Cover maps and water level depth maps. Remote sensing data of Landsat (5, 7 and 8) imagery were acquired for the month of February to know how the land was used over the past years by the preparation of Land Use and Land Cover classification maps and Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) was used to know the topography of the area. Ancillary data of Groundwater (GW) levels was used for the interpolation of the water level status. Crop production data was taken into consideration to know impact on groundwater because of its increase during last two decades. Results show that the water levels were decreasing mainly during the monsoon season. The interpreted reasons are due to the increase in agriculture lands where extraction of water increased to meet the needs for irrigation purposes. The main resource for water in this region is groundwater, rivers and canal. Another reason is the increase in built up land that in turn demands water for domestic usage and also affecting the recharge. The GW levels in the western part of the study area is more declined as compared to the eastern part as observed in the water level maps. This study will be directly useful in management and planning the water resources of the region.