Estimating long-term regional groundwater recharge for the evaluation of potential solution alternatives to waterlogging and salinisation

Accurate estimation of the groundwater recharge is essential for efficient and sustainable groundwater management in arid and semi-arid regions, as water resources are critical to economic development in these areas. Various techniques are available to quantify recharge. The hydrological budget model proposed herein is unique, simple, and easy to apply. It uses data on groundwater level, groundwater extraction, and distributed specific yield information for estimating groundwater recharge. The Model is employed to estimate the seasonal long-term (35 years, e.g., from 1974 to 2009) groundwater recharge of an irrigated semi-arid area located in Haryana State of India, where groundwater levels are rising, continuously. The results are analysed to provide an overview of the process dynamics that led to imbalance of the system. Groundwater recharge analysis during the study period reveals that percolation from irrigated fields is the main recharge component with 49% contribution to the total recharge. An annual groundwater table rise of 0.14 m has been estimated for the study area. Various potential solution alternatives are evaluated to mitigate the problems of waterlogging and salinisation, considering the socio-economic issues which have wider policy significance on sustainability. Several suitable water management strategies such as reduction in rice area, increase in pumping volume and using the groundwater conjunctively with higher quality canal water, and lining of canal networks are suggested to bring the watertable down to a safe limit and to prevent further rising of the watertable. Among the potential solution alternatives studied, the one which considers 10% reduction in rice area along with 2% increase in pumping volume and 20% canal lining, yields best result for mitigating the waterlogging problems.