Groundwater depletion more due to human activity than climate change: ICRISAT study

The findings of an ICRISAT-led study point to a need for the improved governance of water resource sustainability which remains a critical challenge

Sangareddy: The findings of an ICRISAT-led study point to a need for the improved governance of water resource sustainability which remains a critical challenge, particularly in semi-arid regions where despite an increase or no change in rainfall, there is a steady decline in the streamflow of catchments.

“We observed that nearly 50 per cent of the water harvested by hydrological structures helps to increase groundwater recharge. However, crop area expansion using groundwater for irrigation has depleted streamflow and groundwater storage in the Himayat Sagar catchment. The annual groundwater recharge in the catchment is able to fully meet the irrigation requirement during high rainfall years, 50 per cent during dry years and 30 per cent during normal years,” said Dr Rajesh Nune, Hydrologist, at the ICRISAT Development Center (IDC).

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Researchers studied historical data on climate, land use, watershed structures, and groundwater levels available with the Telangana government organisations and conducted field surveys to gather data on groundwater utilisation for different cropping systems during the rainy (kharif) and post-rainy (rabi) seasons.

The data was analysed using an integrated hydrological model called ‘the Modified Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT).’ The approach combines SWAT’s rainfall-runoff model with a groundwater model for each of the 19 sub-catchments in Himayat Sagar. The model is structured to capture dynamic changes in climate variability, land use, and watershed development structures in the catchment.

The ICRISAT-led study also explored the future impact of potential climate and catchment changes on streamflow and groundwater storage in the Himayat Sagar catchment.

The model explored factors such as expanding groundwater irrigated areas, watershed structures, and rejuvenation of existing tanks under the Telangana Government’s ‘Mission Kakatiya’ in the future.

Notably, the State of Telangana is expected to witness the highest rainfall in September instead of August by the end of this century in light of rising temperatures (0.60 – 0.90 C every 30 years) and climate change.

ICRISAT’s findings reveal that despite the increase in average rainfall, a decline in streamflow is expected, considering variations in seasonal rainfall in the months of May and November. Critically, the study observed that catchment changes would have a more significant impact than climate change (rainfall and temperature) in the future.

Under the ‘Mission Kakatiya,’ village tanks were desilted, rejuvenated, and interlinked with the drainage network. According to model predictions, this mitigation strategy captures excess runoff, enhances groundwater recharge for upstream users, and helps control flood damage to downstream users during high-intensity rainfall events.

“It is also necessary to have a better water resource governing policy for the administration of village tanks, especially during the dry years, for the benefit of downstream users,” said Dr Rajesh Nune.

“Understanding the impact of climate variability on streamflow and groundwater recharge along with land use change will help water resource managers adopt better landscape management practices in the catchments for current and future water requirements,” concluded Dr Sreenath Dixit, Head, IDC.