TY - JOUR
T1 - Alarming groundwater depletion in the Delhi Metropolitan Region
T2 - a long-term assessment
AU - Roy, Shouraseni Sen
AU - Rahman, Atiqur
AU - Ahmed, Shakeel
AU - Shahfahad,
AU - Ahmad, Ishita Afreen
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was partially funded by Fulbright Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award–Research 2019.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - Groundwater in Delhi Metropolitan Region (DMR) is suffering from multiple catastrophes, viz., asymptotic increases in groundwater withdrawal, reduced recharge due to erratic rainfall, and variable soil type. In this study, we examined long-term trends in groundwater levels across the DMR from 1996 to 2018. Station level data collected by the Central Groundwater Board for 258 stations at the seasonal scale were visualized and interpreted using geospatial analysis. The spatial patterns of the trends in groundwater levels revealed increasing depths of groundwater levels, except the Yamuna River floodplains. The main cause for the decline is related to the rapid growth in population accompanied with high-density impervious urban land uses, leading to lower levels of recharge vs unlimited withdrawal of groundwater for daily needs. In addition, the local geology in the form of clayey soils in northwest DMR also contributed to the lower levels of recharge. The results of the analysis enabled us to establish the trend and delineate the zones of differential recharge. Furthermore, the level of contaminants were analyzed at the district level for fluorides and nitrates. The presence of fluoride contamination was mostly concentrated in the northwestern district, while the nitrate exceedance was more widespread. These findings will help in achieving the 6th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of United Nations by 2030 as well as goals identified in Delhi’s master plan of 2041.
AB - Groundwater in Delhi Metropolitan Region (DMR) is suffering from multiple catastrophes, viz., asymptotic increases in groundwater withdrawal, reduced recharge due to erratic rainfall, and variable soil type. In this study, we examined long-term trends in groundwater levels across the DMR from 1996 to 2018. Station level data collected by the Central Groundwater Board for 258 stations at the seasonal scale were visualized and interpreted using geospatial analysis. The spatial patterns of the trends in groundwater levels revealed increasing depths of groundwater levels, except the Yamuna River floodplains. The main cause for the decline is related to the rapid growth in population accompanied with high-density impervious urban land uses, leading to lower levels of recharge vs unlimited withdrawal of groundwater for daily needs. In addition, the local geology in the form of clayey soils in northwest DMR also contributed to the lower levels of recharge. The results of the analysis enabled us to establish the trend and delineate the zones of differential recharge. Furthermore, the level of contaminants were analyzed at the district level for fluorides and nitrates. The presence of fluoride contamination was mostly concentrated in the northwestern district, while the nitrate exceedance was more widespread. These findings will help in achieving the 6th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of United Nations by 2030 as well as goals identified in Delhi’s master plan of 2041.
KW - Delhi Metropolitan Region
KW - Groundwater depletion
KW - Land use land cover change (LULCC)
KW - Urbanization
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U2 - 10.1007/s10661-020-08585-8
DO - 10.1007/s10661-020-08585-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 32888049
AN - SCOPUS:85090275613
VL - 192
JO - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
JF - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
SN - 0167-6369
IS - 10
M1 - 620
ER -