Groundwater Dynamics in Hard Rock Aquifers : Sustainable Management and Optimal Monitoring Network Design

Contents: Foreword. Preface. An introduction to UNESCO\'s International Hydrological Programme/Abdin Salih. 1. Hydrogeological research in India in managing water resources/K.D. Sharma and Sudhir Kumar. 2. Nature of hard rock aquifers: hydrogeological uncertainties and ambiguities/B.B.S. Singhal. 3. Overview of the hydrogeology of hard rock aquifers: applications for their survey, management, modelling and protection/P. Lachassagne. 4. Geophysical characterization of hard rock aquifers/N.S. Krishnamurthy, Subash Chandra and Dewashish Kumar. 5. Application of remote sensing and GIS in groundwater exploration/S.K. Nag. 6. Pumping tests: planning, preparation and execution/K. Subrahmanyam and Haris H. Khan. 7. Various pumping tests and methods for evaluation of hydraulic properties in fractured hard rock aquifers/J.C. Marechal, B. Dewandel, K. Subrahmanyam and R. Torri. 8. Analyses of aquifer parameters from different hydraulic tests and their scale effect/J.C. Marechal, Faisal K. Zaidi and B. Dewandel. 9. Upscaling of slug test hydraulic conductivity using discrete fracture network modelling in granitic aquifers/Dominique Bruel, Faisal K. Zaidi and C. Engerrand. 10. Groundwater balance at the watershed scale in a hard rock aquifer using GIS/J.C. Marechal, L. Galeazzi and B. Dewandel. 11. Water budgeting and construction of future scenarios for prediction and management of ground water under stressed condition/Faisal K. Zaidi, Benoit Dewandel, Jean-Marie Gandolfi and Shakeel Ahmed. 12. Applying geostatistics: basic knowledge and variographic analysis with exercises/P.S.N. Murthy, Tanvi Arora and Shakeel Ahmed. 13. Kriging for estimating hydrogeological parameters/Shakeel Ahmed and K. Devi. 14. Application of geostatistics in optimal groundwater monitoring network design/Shakeel Ahmed, Dewashish Kumar and Aadil Nabi Bhat. 15. Reconstruction of water level time series in an aquifer using geostatistical technique/Dewashish Kumar and Shakeel Ahmed. 16. Governing equations of groundwater flow and aquifer modelling using finite difference method/Shazrah Owais, S. Atal and P.D. Sreedevi. 17. Simulation of flow in weathered-fractured aquifer in a semi-arid an over-exploited region/Shakeel Ahmed and P.D. Sreedevi. 18. Regional simulation of a groundwater flow in coastal aquifer, Tamil Nadu, India/L. Elango and C. Sivakumar. 19. Hydrogeology of Hard rock aquifer in Kashmir Valley: complexities and uncertainties/G. Jeelani.

"It has become imperative on the part of water scientists and planners to adopt techniques for quantifying the available groundwater resources for sustainable development and management keeping in mind the scarcity of available water resources versus its demand in the near future. The apparent heterogeneities and complexities present in the hard rock aquifers makes it a challenging research to tackle groundwater problems. The intricacy increases manifold for the management of groundwater when the hard rock aquifers are situated in arid or semi-arid regions. The demand/supply gap has led to the over abstraction of the groundwater and water level depletion in many areas beyond economic exploitation.

The Indo-French Center for Groundwater Research (IFCGR) at Hyderabad, India has taken this challenge and using a suitable pilot site with all the requisites for studying hard rock aquifers present, has surveyed and experimented extensively a typical granitic aquifer present in a semi-arid and monsoon climate agricultural area. The present book contains the results and findings of the advanced research carried out in the pilot area with a thorough investigation of the structure and functioning of the aquifer in such a formation. The various chapters arranged in the book start from a very general scenario of the water resources management in the country, an extremely technical contribution on the hard rock aquifer system, its characterization, theoretical portion of its properties and behaviour that has been necessary to enter into the environment. A brief description of various experiences of studying the hard rock aquifers globally has been included to provide a much wider experience. The rest of the book has very systematically included the geophysical, geological and remote sensing applications to conceptualize such an aquifer system. The basics of the hydraulic tests, conducting various types of examinations for parameter estimation in such aquifers including their up-scaling with modern interpretation techniques are embedded. Another chapter has been included describing the water budgeting and balance in granitic aquifers using the specific methods for their estimation. A major parts covers the advanced techniques of geostatistics and aquifer modelling right from the basics and then demonstrated by suitable case studies. Finally a few examples have been included on the hard rock aquifers from extreme North and also from the South of India with case studies to complete the matter for its readers. The reader of the book will find comprehensive knowledge with suitable examples to investigate a hard rock aquifer for characterization of its flow properties, estimating water balance and finally aquifer modelling for groundwater management including the theory of regionalized variables. Colour diagrams wherever necessary have been included for clear understanding."