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08/02/23 08:55 AM IST

Long-term groundwater storage in Ganga basin declining at 2.6 cm per year: Study

In News
  • Groundwater storage levels have been declining by 2.6 centimetres per year in the Ganga basin, according to new estimates.
Major Findings
  • The impacts were more pronounced in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, with average storage declines of roughly 14 cm year−1, 7.5 cm year−1 and 7.2 cm year−1, respectively.
  • The average storage decline in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal was estimated to be roughly 2cm year−1, 1 cm year−1 and 0.6 cm year−1, respectively.
  • The Ganga Basin’s aquifers are one of the largest reservoirs of groundwater in the world.
  • Researchers used three different methods to study long-term groundwater storage across six states.
  • Data between 1996 and 2017 from the Central Groundwater Board.
  • Data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) – satellites launched in 2002 to assess Earth’s water reservoirs over land, ice and ocean.
  • All three analyses depicted that groundwater in the Ganga basin is declining.
  • The new study included western Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan under the Ganga basin.
    Rajasthan, whose groundwater reserves contribute about 90% of the drinking water and 60% of the irrigation, is showing an improvement in groundwater levels in the recent past.
  • Delhi and Haryana have high groundwater abstraction rates (Groundwater abstraction refers to the process of removing water from underground aquifers for various purposes such as irrigation, drinking water supply, industrial use, or for recharging depleted aquifers.)
Source- DTE

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