S*^' SUSTAINABILITY of GROUNDWATER SYSTEM
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<«s*^' SUSTAINABILITY OF GROUNDWATER SYSTEM IN KRISHNI-HINDON INTERSTREAM, WESTERN UTTAR PRADESH: A QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE" ASSESSMENT ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF ^' ©octor of ^j^ilos^opljp GEOLOGY BY MOHAMMAD MUQTADA ALI KHAN DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2008 ^^^^: SUCCINCT SUMMARY An area measuring abput 650 km^ lying between N to S (lowing Hindon and Krishni rivers, forming a part of tlie Central Ganga Plain in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, has been covered for the present work which encompasses hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical studies, the two main domains of research in groundwater systems. The area has witnesse(i a lowering of water table by up to 2.32 m during the period from June, 2006 and June^ 2007, the average annual decline of groundwater level being 0.07 to 1.1 m. Two significant groundwater troughs have been observed in the northern part of the area which ar« related to excessive pumping. Groundwater budget studies have rung the alarm bell by showing a negative annual budget of 68 Mcum, with the stage of groundwater development estimated at 137%. Groundwater is pred(>niinantly Na-K-HCOj type, its characteristic feature being high TDS, relative enrichnicnt in SO4 and abundance in alkalis. Surface water sources, the two rivers, are polluted by factory and sewage discharges, discarded leachate and chemicals, fertilizers and inunicipal and organic wastes. It has been established beyond any doubt that sulphate is being added to the rivers from sugar factories. Vulnerability study shows that areas lying along the banks of the two rivers are more prone to groundwater pollution. SoJ's of the area also show that their water-soluble components are derived mainly from anthropogenic sources. Water percolating through these may be transmitting contaminations to aquifers. Silica concentrations in groundwater indicate that it may be derived from levels of 800 to 1000 m. Source of almost all the major ions b through natural processes, such as, water-rock interaction and dissolution, and industrial, municipal and domestic wastes and discards. The role of anthropogenic sources is rather overwhelming. There are temporal, as well as, spatial variations in the chemical quality of groundwater in response to meteorological «nd hydrogeological influences, respectively. The area provides a characteristic example of a situation which is being witnessed in many parts of the country^ in general, and Ganga - Yamuna plain, in particular. Both quality and quantity of the precious groundwater resource are being detrimentally affected and a situation has arrived when nothing can probably be done except regulating the future course of groundwater development and minimizing the deterioration caused to th^ system by industries. A number of recommendations have been offered to minimize the damages to the groundwater system of the area. ABSTRACT The Ganga basin forms one of the most potential groundwater reservoirs in the world. An area of about 650 ian^, located between rivers HindonandKrishni(29^05'N-29^30'N: 7T20'E- 7T32'E) inthisbasin, has been covered for this study. The Central Ganga Plain has been exhaustively studied on regional scale by Government agencies but not many studies have been carried out at the levels of parts of sub-basins or administrative units. However, due to the escalation of demand-supply ratio, as a result of the population growth and rapid industrialization, it has become essential to monitor the groundwater management minutely with a lot of precision. For this, hydrogeological parameters, groundwater budget and chemical characteristics all are to be collectively monitored at larger scale. Groundwater budgeting and suggesting ways of mitigating the deterioration of the quality of aquifers serve as the backbone of groundwater management programme, and this precisely had been one of the main objectives of this work. An inter-stream area happens to be the true representative of an overexploited and extensively cultivated region. The groundwater abstraction in such areas is at alarming rates and thus threats are posed as far as the ultimate survival of groundwater systems is concerned. Moreover, as in the area under study, rapid industrialization, in the form of sugar mills, pulp and paper factories, cooperative distilleries and municipal wastes, is altering groundwater chemistry so much so that meteoric signatures have been completely obliterated. Keeping this in view, the area was undertaken for present work. The research has been focused on understanding the aquifer system, aquifer parameters, status of groundwater budget, and chemical characteristics of the groundwater and surface water. For the above purposes intensive field investigations were undertaken to generate the data base. A network of evenly spaced, observation wells was established and monitoring of water level was carried out during pre- monsoon (June 2006, 2007) and post-monsoon (November 2006, 2007) periods. The water level data were utilized for preparation of depth to water, water level fluctuation and water table contour maps. The lithological logs of deep tube wells were collected and utilized in preparation of fence diagram and various hydrogeological cross-sections to ascertain aquifer geometry. The aquifer material (sand samples) were collected fix)m six drilling sites. The depth of sample collected range from 33- 66 m bgl. These samples were mechanically analyzed and data obtained were plotted on grading curve to determine effective grain size and uniformity coefficient. Hydraulic conductivity of these sand samples was also determined instrumental ly. Water level data for 5 hydrograph stations were utilized to prepare hydrographs. Data on pumping tests were obtained from previous studies. The area on an average receives 588 to 697 mm of annual rainfall. Change Detection Analysis of land use/land cover for the years 1992 and 1999 reveals that areas of agricultural land and wasteland have decreased. The area occupied by settlements has correspondingly increased and this is obviously related to an increase in the population. This is a pointer to the alarming threat to the groundwater system of the area. Geologically, the area is underlain by about 1300 m of alluvial deposits of Quaternary age with Delhi Supergroup forming the basement. Four distinct aquifer groups were identified to the depth of 450 m bgl. Each group of granular zone represents a separate sedimentological environment. The first group of aquifer system has been taken up for detailed investigation in the present study. This aquifer is sub divided at places in to two to three sub groups due to the occurrence of sub-regional clay beds. The fence diagram depicts occurrence of a single aquifer down to a depth of 121 m bgl. The top clay layer is persistent through out the area with varying thickness and is underlain by a single granular zone. The granular zone is composed of medium to coarse sand and forms about 60 to 75% of the total litho-mass encountered, particularly in the upper central part of the area. The sand percent map reveals that the granular zone attains a maximum thickness (74%) near left bank of river Krishni and gradually increases towards both the river banks. Fence diagram and sand percent map are mutually consistent. Depths to water table during pre- and post-monsoon range between 9.87 to 27.78 m bgl and 8.9 to 27.46 m bgl, respectively, in 2006. In 2007, the water level varies between 9.76 to 29.44 m bgl and 9.67 to 29.28 m bgl, respectively. Water table contour maps have revealed that the movement of groundwater is, in general, N to S. However, local variations do exist, which in all likelihood are related to over abstraction of groundwater. Two significant groundwater troughs are observed in the area which seem to be a persistent feature of the groundwater regime of the area. Hydrographs show declining trend, average annual decline of groundwater in the area being 0.07 to 1.1m. Permeabilities ranges from 12 to 54 m/day on the isopermeability map. The bulk of the area is represented by 20-30 m/day permeability zone. The hydraulic conductivity of aquifer materials were also determined by constant head Permeameter and the values obtained ranges from 1.07 to 3.84 m/day which correspond to typical conductivity value of fine-grained sand. The transmissivity values obtained by pumping test reported in previous studies ranges between 720 and 1820 mVday. These data are not mutually consistent. The groundwater budget of the area shows that the total recharge is 185.13 Mcum and total discharge is 253.2 Mcum. Thus, the area is characterized by a change in groundwater storage by about -68 Mcum. The stage of groundwater development works out to be 137%, which puts the area into over-exploited category. The vulnerability map categorizes the area in low to very high vulnerability zones. Major portion of the study area comes under the moderate category. tile . A^' Groundwater chemistry is an integral part of any groundwater research. Samples were collected from Krishni and Hindon rivers to see the level of contamination in surface water. Two effluent samples were collected from the sugar factory in the area to have an idea about the source of chemical species in surface- and groundwater. A total number of 108 groundwater samples from shallow and deep aquifers, were collected during November, 2005, and June, 2006, representing post- and pre-monsoon periods, respectively. Analysis for NO3 and silica was done in samples collected in June, 2007. Besides, a set of 13 trace metals comprising Cu, Zn, Ni, Fe, Mn, Co, Cr, Se, Cd, As, B, Ag and Pb were analyzed in 18 groundwater samples by ICP-MS. The objective was to assess the groundwater quality and to evaluate processes responsible for the observed temporal and spatial variations in hydrogeochemistry.