An Integrated Hydrogeological Study of the Muvattupuzha River Basin, Kerala, India
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AN INTEGRATED HYDROGEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE MUVATTUPUZHA RIVER BASIN, KERALA, INDIA Thesis submitted to the COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY in partial fulfilment ofth e requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF pmLOSOPHY IN MARINE GEOLOGY UNDER THE FACULTY OF MARINE SCIENCES By GIRISH GOPINATH DEPARTMENT OF MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS SCHOOL OF MARINE SCIENCES COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COCHIN - 682 016 AUGUST 2003 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled "AN INTEGRATED HYDROGEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE MUVATTUPUZHA RIVER BASIN, KERALA, INDIA" is an authentic record of research work carried out by Mr. Girish Gopinath under my supervision and guidance in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and no part thereof has been presented for the award of any degree in any University/ Institute. Prof. P. Seralathan (Research Supervisor) Dept. of Marine Geology and Geophysics School of Marine Sciences Cochin -16 Cochin University of Science and Technology August, 2003. Cochin - 682 016 PREFACE Water is the lifeblood of every living creature on the earth. Through the wonders of nature, water can take different forms. Although about 72 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water, the fresh water including groundwater occupies a small portion of it. It is easy to understand the significance of water in our lives however; it is difficult to understand the characteristics and movement of water with in the earth's surface - the groundwater. In India, more than 90% of rural and nearly 30% of urban population depends on groundwater for meeting their drinking and domestic requirements. In addition, it accounts for nearly 60% of the irrigation potential created in the country. The spatio-temporal variation in rainfall and regional/local differences in geology and geomorphology has led to an uneven distribution of groundwater in different regions across the country. So an attempt has been made to develop a scientific database on the Muvattupuzha river basin, Kerala, spreading over an area of 1488 km2 (latitudes, 9° 40' - 10° 10' Nand longitudes, 76° 20' - 77° 00' E). The present investigation deals with the hydrogeological characteristics of the Muvattupuzha river basin. Geologically this basin is characterised by Precambrian crystalline rocks overlained by laterites. Groundwater occurs under water table conditions in laterites and semi-confined to confined conditions in fractured crystalline rocks. In weathered crystallines, the depth and intensity of weathering controls the occurrence and movement of groundwater. But in hard crystallines with negligible weathering and lateritisation, the presence of lineaments and joints are the controlling factors. The lateritic clay materials also reduce hydraulic conductivity to some extent in this basin. The occurrence of dykes and veins in the area may at times acts as barriers to groundwater movement. Studies relating to hydrogeology, hydrometeorology, hydrochemistry, geophysics and remote sensing are essential for a scientific management and sustainable development of groundwater resources. Muvattupuzha river basin experiences serious water shortage during April and May every year. Except a preliminary study by the Muvattupuzha Valley Irrigation Project (MVIP) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in the eighties, no serious attempt has been made to study the behaviour of groundwater characteristics, aquifer parameters, groundwater chemistry, demarcation of potential groundwater zones etc. Hence the groundwater of the Muvattupuzha river basin has been studied by conventional survey (hydrological characteristics, geophysical analysis and groundwater chemistry) and remote sensing techniques. Geographic information system, being the best tool to create scientific groundwater database, has also been employed. The thesis has been addressed in 7 chapters with further subdivisions. The first chapter is introductory, stating the necessity of an integrated study and drawing it from a careful review of literature relevant to the present study. It also provides a description about the study area, geology, drainage, physiography, climate and land use. It also contains the major objectives of the present study. Chapter 2 deals with the methodology adopted in this work. The collection of groundwater samples, processing techniques, various laboratory methods adopted in the analysis of water samples, pumping test analysis, resistivity data analysis, satellite data collection, image processing techniques and Geographic Information System are presented in detail. The hydrogeology of the basin is discussed in chapter 3. The systematic description of water level study, water fluctuation study, pumping tests etc. and their results are covered in this chapter. Chapter 4 deals with the hydrogeophysical characteristics based on resistivity analysis. The layer parameters and probable phreatic potential zone are identified. Chapter 5 examines the groundwater quality of the basin for the pre and post monsoon seasons. The suitability of the groundwater for various purposes like domestic, irrigation and industries are evaluated. Chapter 6 integrates the remotely sensed data (hydrogeomorphology, lineament, landuse etc.), terrain parameters (slope, drainage etc.) and geophysical data with the help of Geographic Information System to demarcate the groundwater potential zones of the basin. By in putting hydrogeological, geophysical and hydrogeochemical data in GIS a strong database of this basin has been generated. A summary of the work and the major conclusions drawn thereof are given in Chapter 7. CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION PAGE NO. 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 6 1.3 PREVIOUS WORK IN MUVATTUPUZHA RIVER BASIN 13 1.4 STUDY AREA 14 1.5 PHYSIOGRAPHY 15 1.6 CLIMATE 16 1.7 DRAINAGE 16 1.8 GEOLOGICAL SETTING OF THE STUDY AREA 17 1.9 SOILS 20 1.10 LANDUSE 21 1.11 OBJECTIVES 21 CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 2.1 INTRODUCTION 23 2.2 FIELD INVESTIGATIONS 24 2.2.1 Groundwater sample collection 24 2.2.2 Aquifer tests 25 2.2.3 Major geophysical techniques used in groundwater 29 exploration 2.3 LABORATORY WORK 35 2.3.1 Chemical analysis 35 2.4 SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION 37 2.4.1 Rainfall and waterlevel data 37 2.5 SATELLITE DATA COLLECTION AND IMAGE PROCESSING 38 2.5.1 Data analysis 39 2.5.1a Digital image processing 39 2.5.1b Visual interpretation 42 2.6 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM 42 2.6.1 Development of groundwater prospect zone 43 2.6.2 Integration of spatial and non-spatial data 46 2.7 SOFTWARES USED 46 CHAPTER 3 HYDROGEOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION 47 3.2 AQUIFER TYPES 48 3.3 BEHAVIOUR OF GROUNDWATER 50 3.3.1 Water level fluctuation 50 3.3.2 Water table 53 3.3.3 Grid deviation map 53 3.3.4 Correlation of water level with rainfall 55 3.4 AQUIFER PARAMETER EVALUATION 55 3.4.1 Transmissivity 57 3.4.2 Storage coefficient or storativity 59 3.4.3 Optimum yield 60 3.4.4 Time for full recovery analysis 61 3.4.5 Specific capacity 62 3.5 GROUNDWATER RESOURCE STUDY 65 CHAPTER 4 GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING 4.1 INTRODUCTION 68 4.2 RESISTIVITY OF GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS 70 4.3 INTERPRETATION OF VES DATA 72 4.3.1 Qualitative interpretation 72 4.3.2 Quantitative interpretation 74 4.4 GROUNDWATER PROSPECTING ZONES BASED ON 76 RESISITIVITY ANALYSIS CHAPTER 5 HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY 5.1 INTRODUCTION 80 5.2 QUALITY CRITERIA FOR VARIOUS USES 81 5.2.1 Evaluation of groundwater for domestic uses 82 5.2.1a pH 82 5.2.1b Electrical Conductivity (EC) 84 5.2.1c Total dissolved solids (TDS) 85 5.2.1d Hardness as CaC03 86 5.2.1e Total Iron 88 5.2.1f Fluoride 89 5.2.1g Major cations and anions 90 5.2.1h Bacteriological Quality (E.coli) 96 5.2.2 Evaluation of groundwater for irrigation 97 5.2.2a Evaluation based on percentage of sodium, EC and TDS 97 5.2.2b Suitability of water through U.S.S.L diagram 98 5.2.2c Residual sodium carbonate (RSC) 102 5.2.3 Evaluation of groundwater for industrial purpose 102 5.2.3a Evaluation based on TDS and Hardness as CaC03 102 5.2.3b Corrosivity Ratio (CR) 103 5.3 MECHANISM CONTROLLING THE GROUNDWATER 105 CHEMISTRY 5.4 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF GROUNDWATER 107 CHEMISTRY 5.4a Correlation matrix 107 5.4b Cluster analysis 107 CHAPTER 6 REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM 6.1 INTRODUCTION 109 6.2 ROLE OF REMOTE SENSING AND GIS IN 113 HYDROGEOLOGY 6.3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION 116 6.3.1 Description of thematic maps 116 6.3.1a Hydrogeomorphology 117 6.3.1b Lineaments and lineament density maps 120 6.3.1c Drainage density 122 6.3.1d Slope analysis and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) 122 6.3.1e Iso- apparent resistivity analysis 123 6.3.1f Landuse classification 123 6.3.2 Delineation of groundwater potential zones 126 6.3.3 Integration of spatial and non-spatial data 128 CHAPTER 7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 129 REFERENCES APPENDIX LIST OF TABLES Chapter 2 2.1 Time intervals for pumping and recovery phase. 2.2 Electrical methods employed for common hydrogeological problems. 2.3 Methods followed for the determination of various physical and chemical parameters of groundwater. 2.4a GIS database components and their method for their representation. 2.4b Map representation of GIS derived database and their data format. Chapter 3 3.1 Water level fluctuation and grid deviation computations for NHS of the Muvattupuzha river basin. 3.2 Various transmissivity values and storage coefficient obtained by the analysis of pump test data. 3.3 Various aquifer characteristics derived from pump test analysis for the study area. 3.4 Different specific capacity indices of the Muvattupuzha river basin. 3.5 The status of water resources of India. 3.6 Groundwater resources of the Muvattupuzha river basin. Chapter 4 4.1 Representative resistivity values for earth materials. 4.2 Hydrogeological significance of bulk resistivity values.