A study on the evaluation of ground water potential and vulnerability in Trichirappalli District.

Water is essential for human life .The demand for water has already increased tremendously over the years due to population explosion, industrialization, urbanization, expanding agriculture and economic development. At the same time the available surface and ground water resources are indiscriminately polluted by improper disposal of municipal, industrial and agricultural waste into water bodies. This leads to water quality deterioration creating new challenges on water conservation and management. In view of present situation sustainable management of water supporting natural environment has gained great importance. Therefore an assessment of availability of water resources is imperative. Tiruchirappalli district is centroid of Tamilnadu state located in Cauvery river basin. It sustains a population of 24,18,366 as per 2001 census in an area of 4,40,383 sqkm. The district is divided into 14 blocks. On the basis of ground water development 4 blocks are categorized as overexploited and 1 as critical and rest as safe. Several studies have shown that some blocks could be vulnerable to water level depletion. The present study is proposed to assess the ground water potential. The study also envisages an appropriate mathematical equations describing the groundwater regime in terms of observable such as groundwater levels or concentrations of pollution etc., A sensitivity analysis of the model to identify those parameters which need to be estimated more accurately and to evolve efficient management options to protect the groundwater. The primary objective of vulnerability assessment is to identify places that are most susceptible to harm and identify vulnerability reducing actions.

(M. Nirmala Devi)

Kearey, Philip, Michael Brooks, and Ian Hill. An Introduction to Geophysical Exploration, 3rd ed. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell, 2002. Stone, William. J. Hydrogeology in Practice: A Guide to Characterizing Groundwater Systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.

Read more: Groundwater Supplies, Exploration for - river, depth, salt, types, plants, source http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ge-Hy/GroundwaterSupplies-Exploration-for.html#ixzz1GsTfDrSw
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Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful to humans. Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water. 97% of water on the Earth is salt water, and only 3% is fresh water of which slightly over two thirds is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps.[1] The remaining unfrozen freshwater is mainly found as groundwater, with only a small fraction present above ground or in the air.[2]
Foster, Stephen, Albert Tuinhof, Karin Kemper, Hector Garduno, and Marcella Nanni. 2002. Groundwater Management Strategies. GWMATE Briefing Note 3. Sustainable Groundwater Management: Concepts and Tools series. Online at http://www.worldbank.org/ gwmate. IWMI (International Water Management Institute). 2002. Innovations in Groundwater Recharge. IWMI-Tata Water Policy Briefing, No. 1. Available online at http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/ waterpolicybriefing/files/wpb01.pdf. Murray Rust, H., and E. Vander Velde. 1992. Conjunctive Use of Canal and Groundwater in Punjab, Pakistan: Management and Policy Options. Advancements in IIMIs Research 1992. A Selection of papers presentedat the Internal Program Review. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Irrigation Management Institute. Shah, T. 2003. Decentralized Water Harvesting and Groundwater

Water is one of the most essential natural resources for sustaining life and it is likely to become critically scarce in the coming decades, due to continuous increase in its demands, rapid increase in population and expanding economy of the country.
Groundwater Resources of India, Central Groundwater Board,

New Delhi, 1995. 11. Theme paper Five Decades of Water Resources Development in India, Indian Water Resources Society, Roorkee, 1998.

Fetter, C.W. 2001. Applied Hydrogeology (Fourth Edition). Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Freeze, R.A., and J.A. Cherry. 1979. Groundwater. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Hansel, A.K., and W.H. Johnson. 1996. Wedron and Mason Groups: Lithostratigraphic Reclassification of Deposits of the Wisconsin Episode, Lake Michigan Lobe Area. Illinois

Ahmad Jamrah & Ahmed Al-Futaisi & Natarajan Rajmohan & Saif Al-Yaroubi

Published online: 20 December 2007 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007