Groundwater Recharge Potential Sites in Semi-Arid Region of Man River Basin, Maharashtra State, India: A Geoinformatic Approach

The prosperity of the entire biotic community depends on two broad components of nature; land and water. The basaltic rock is known to have poor storage and transmission capability. It gets fully saturated during monsoon but a situation of rejected recharge results in post-monsoon and early summer months. These aquifers also drain naturally due to high water table gradient formed by sloping and undulating topography. The available and new groundwater recharge potential zones can better augment by adopting a scientific and multi-sectoral approach for making the future plan. The study area encompasses Manganga River basin, bounded between Lat. 17°54’ N to 17°00’ N and Long. 74°27’ E to 75°31’ E. The study area is in basaltic terrain with undulating topography. The spatial and non-spatial data generated based on various thematic maps such as geology, lineament density, geomorphology, slope, drainage buffer, land-use land-cover, soil texture and soil erodibility have been prepared using satellite data. The groundwater prospects maps generated by overlay analysis of the spatial thematic maps were grouped into five classes and their distribution are: very good/excellent, good, moderate, poor and very poor. The results show that a major portion of the study area falls in the category ‘poor’ followed by ‘very poor’. Based on the outputs derived from groundwater recharge potential zones, an action plan for watershed development in the study area has been suggested like the development of percolation/water retention ponds at the identified sites and tube/bore/open wells along the dense lineament zones. The aspect related to conjunctive use, groundwater legislation, the involvement of NGO’S, women and community participation, mass awareness, adoption of advanced irrigation system etc. will play an important role in conserving and developing the precious water resources.