Volume 2, Number 2, July-December 2014 UNDERGROUND WATER TABLE POSITION OF KYAUKSE TOWNSHIP: THE CASE STUDY OF KYAUKSE PLAIN Dr. Hlaing Myo Myo Htay Department of Geography Yadanabon University, Mandalay, Myanmar ABSTRACT prevalence of its relationship with the regional s urface morphology. D epths Kyaukse ar ea lying i n the to water t able g radually d ecrease eastern pe riphery of dry z one of from more than 30 feet up to 6 feet in Myanmar h as t o rely o n the surface the w est south w est direction. water resources f rom Z awgyi, Measurement of w ater t able w as Panlaung and S amon r ivers f or performed at 30 vi llages during agriculture. F or drinking w ater and summer a nd a t the e nd of rainy partly f or i rrigation of g arden lands, season. A t M insu a nd K obin village underground w ater i s ut ilized. To tracts, in summer as well as at the end utilize safe and sustainable underground of rainy season water table lies at the water r esources, it is imp ortant to depth of less than 10 feet. Based upon know t he underground w ater oc cur- the pe culiar na ture of t he underground rence, w ater t able pos ition a nd its water ta ble, it is r ecommended th at related pr esent a nd f uture problems. future r ational planning f or water In Kyaukse alluvial plain, coarse sand resources utilization s hould be m ade and gravelly horizons are found to be for s ustainable development of the main aquifer o f w ater t able aquifer. area. Almost all the water samples quality show t hat t otal di ssolved solids (TDS) and electric conductance (EC) are acceptable limit. The elevation of KEY WORDS water t able gradually l owers towards water table, aquifer, water quality north- northwest di rection, t he highest being m ore than 350 f eet (above s ea l evel) at t he v icinity o f INTRODUCTION Shantaungu range a nd K yaukse hi ll. The s hallow w ater table i s f ound a t Kyaukse Township i s one of Shabin village tr act in th e n orthwest the m ost i mportant t ownships in of t he ar ea l ying at 2 30 f eet. The Mandalay D ivision in a gricultural water table p osition in dicates th e and industrial a spects. S ome Indus- 134 Volume 2, Number 2, July-December 2014 trial c omplexes a nd mo st o f th e this a rea. Also l ocal population ha d agricultural p ractices o ccupy this performed w ater je t d rilling o f shallow Kyaukse plain. T hus, i t i s t he m ost wells. A lthough t he dr illing records important area in central Myanmar. are a vailable, no lucid a ccount on underground water ha d be en Kyaukse ar ea i s p art o f t he mentioned. dry a rea a nd a nnual pr ecipitation is small c ompared to other pa rts of M.M. I vanitsin ( 1962, 1962 monsoon area, i t ha s t o de pend on a) ha d de scribed t he hy dro geologic natural w ater r esources w hich ar e account of Myanmar and dry zone of water from t he local s treams an d Myanmar w hich m entioned generalized rivers a nd underground w ater for nature of underground water occurrence these ne eds. Thus, ha nd-dug wells in broad a lluvial pl ain of T hazi- and t ube w ells ha d be en dr illed in Kyaukse- Mandalay ar ea. Detailed order t o r etrieve t he g round water description of unde rground w ater of resources t o solve t he pr oblem of the pr esent s tudy a rea ha d not yet water i nsufficiency en countered i n been made at present. this area for domestic uses. U. D A ung B a( 1965 ) had Underground w ater resources carried out t he unde rground w ater which are more or less reliable source resources s tudy of Kyaukse a nd pa rt for s afe water supply pl ay a n of Meiktila ar ea and m entioned t he important role i n t he world. If i t has nature of o ccurrence o f underground to depend on unde rground w ater water in this area. resources, n ature of i ts occurrence, M.L T hein and S an Thu especially w ater t able condition (1984) of A pplied G eology D epart- becomes important to be considered. ment a nd L. D urey (1986), U NICEF consultant, described t he r egional nature of underground w ater of PREVIOUS STUDIES central Myanmar including dry zone. Although physical characteristics In t heir w orks, hy drogeology of of Kyaukse area had been studied by Kyaukse-Mandalay plain w as briefly many researchers co ncerned, the mentioned. study on t he unde rground water In a ll t he a bove m entioned resources h ad not b een carried out works, particular na ture of w ater from t he g eomorphologic point of table a nd its longterm impact on the view. Rural Water Supply Division of surface phy sical c ondition ha d not former A gricultural Mechanization been s tated. I n the pr esent study, Department, now W ater R esources nature o f w ater t able i n t he p resent Utilization Department of Ministry of irrigated area and its related problems Agriculture and Irrigation had carried are determined for the future rational out drilling for underground water in utilization of underground water. 135 Volume 2, Number 2, July-December 2014 The unde rground water h ave METHODS USED been supplemental t o t he s urface In t he pr esent s tudy, t he water r esources needed f or the following methods of s tudy are development of s ocial a nd e conomic performed: condition of t he l ocal popul ation i n the study a rea, a nd t hus i t i s 1. C ollection of pr evious necessary to k now the o ccurrence o f study. underground w ater in this ar ea. I n 2. F ield survey and t aking this pr esent s tudy, the m ain pur pose sample me asurement b y u sing w ith is t o know t he water t able a nd its the GPS, Tape, Plumb bob. distribution throughout the area. 3. A nalysis of d ata us ing t he software’s o f G IS, AutoCad, Arc/View, Sulfer 7. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 4. Interpretation The o bjectives o f w ater table study at the alluvial plain of Kyaukse SCOPE OF WORK area are performed with the following purposes: The outline of the research is to en umerate the p hysical and 1. T o determine t he position chemical n ature an d distribution of of water table, and its flow direction water t able i n the s tudy area an d its and t he de pth t o the w ater t able influence on t he physical na ture of throughout the study area. the area. 2. To find out the area where the water table rests at shallow level. PHYSICAL BACKGROUND OF 3. To determine the nature of STUDY AREA fluctuation of w ater t able n ear t he canals and its distributaries. Location Kyaukse Township is situated 4. To identify the composition in the eastern part of the Dry zone of of unde rground w ater, its r elation to central Myanmar. It is lying between the pos ition of water t able an d i ts latitudes 21° 26′N and 2 2° 20′N an d suitability for the specific purposes of between longitudes 95° 57′ E and 96° utilization. 58′ E. T he t ownship ha s a n a rea of To f ulfill the a bove objectives, 725.278 square miles. Topography of the r esearch programmer had be en Kyaukse T ownship can be di vided carried out by performing field t rips, into Kyaukse plain and the Yeyaman monitoring of w ater table a nd labo- range. The Kyaukse plain lies within ratory analysis of the collected water the p resent s tudy area. The l ocation samples. of t he s tudy area i s delimited th e western part of the Kyaukse township 136 Volume 2, Number 2, July-December 2014 lying between latitudes 21° 26′ N and maximum temperature is 95.62°F and 21° 50′ N a nd l ongitudes 95 ° 57′ E the minimum temperature is 66.56 °F and 96° 20′ E. It has an area of about (Figure 1.2). 90.8 s quare miles w ide. S o t his ar ea has be en s urveyed t o s tudy t he Vegetation settlement area with the objective for The v egetation of t he ar ea is the f uture water r esources d evelop- controlled by c limatic c onditions, ment o f th e western part o f t he especially r ainfall.