Sustainability
of Groundwater Resources and its Indicators (Proceedings of symposium S3 held during the
Seventh IAHS Scientific Assembly at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, April 2005). IAHS
Publ. 302, 2006, 43-50.
Groundwater sustainability indicators for the
Brahmaputra basin in the northeastern region of India
U. C. SHARMA1 & VIKAS SHARMA2
1 Centre for Natural Resources Management, VPO Tarore, Jammu 181133, Jammu & Kashmir, India
ucsharma2@rediffmail.com
2 SK University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Chatha, Jammu 180009, Jammu & Kashmir, India
Abstract The Brahmaputra River, flowing through the northeastern region of India, has a catchment area of 194 413 km2 and an average annual flow of 537.2 km3. The four states of the Brahmaputra basin, viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, have total replenishable groundwater resources of 1.438, 24.719, 0.539 and 0.724 km2, respectively. In the Brahmaputra basin, the identified groundwater sustainability indicators show spatial and temporal variations and may be divided into five categories. These are: (a) socio-economic, involving a threat to groundwater due to societal needs such as the prevalence of shifting cultivation, the land tenure system, deforestation cropping patterns or land use and population growth; (b) meteorological, concerning the amount and duration of rainfall, in situ rainwater retention, rate of infiltration, amount of surface and sub-surface flow, aquifer recharge capacity and contamination of groundwater with fertilizers and agricultural chemicals as well as urban wastes; (c) environmental, relating to floods and droughts; (d) resilience or the ability of the system to maintain groundwater levels despite major disturbance and stability under stress conditions; and (e) policy domain and management, including developmental works, spatial and intergenerational equity and relationship between people and policy makers.
Key words
Brahmaputra basin; groundwater; northeastern India; rainfall variability
index; sustainability indicators