• Groundwater flow modelling of Yamuna–Krishni interstream, a part of central Ganga Plain Uttar Pradesh

• # Fulltext

https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jess/118/05/0507-0523

• # Keywords

Groundwater flow model; river–aquifer interaction; prediction scenario; Yamuna–Krishni; Muzaffarnagar.

• # Abstract

Groundwater is a major source of water for agricultural and domestic requirements in western Uttar Pradesh.Due to increasing agricultural requirements the abstraction of groundwater has increased manifold in the last two-to-three decades.The quaternary alluvium hosts the aquifer in the region.The study area forms a part of Yamuna –Krishni inter ﬂuve.Although the area hosts potential aquifers these have been adversely affected by poor management.For effective ground water management of a basin it is essential that a careful water balance study should be carried out. Keeping this in mind groundwater ﬂow modelling was attempted to simulate the behaviour of the ﬂow system and evaluate the water balance.The groundwater ﬂow modelling was carried out.The horizontal ﬂows,seepage losses from unlined canals,recharge from rainfall and irrigation return ﬂows were applied using different boundary packages available in Visual MODFLOW,Pro 4.1. The river aquifer interaction was simulated using the river boundary package.Hydraulic conductivity values were applied to speciﬁc zones and these ranged from 9.8 to 26.6 m/day.Recharge due to rainfall and irrigation returns were assigned to respective zones.Pumping rates of 500 m3/day$, 1000 m3/day$, 1500 m3/day, 2000 m3/day and 2500 m3/day were applied to appropriate areas of the model to simulate areas of stress.The zone budget shows a water balance de ﬁcit for the period June 2006 to June 2007. The total recharge to the study area is 160.21 million m3 (Mcum). The groundwater draft through pumping is of the order of 233.56 Mcum, thus leaving a deﬁcit balance of −73.35 Mcum. The sensitivity of the model to input parameters was tested by varying the parameters of interest over a range of values, monitoring the response of the model and determining the root mean square error of the simulated groundwater heads to the measured heads. These analyses showed that the model is most sensitive to hydraulic conductivity and recharge parameters. Three scenarios were considered to predict aquifer responses under varied conditions of groundwater bstraction.

• # Author Affiliations

1. Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202 002, India.

• # Journal of Earth System Science

Current Issue
Volume 128 | Issue 5
July 2019