Water Resources Management - Practices of Irrigation and On-farm Water Management - page 189

5.7.4 Lowering of WT and Increase in Cost of Pumping
Generally, groundwater does not recycle as fast as the surface water, with rates of
groundwater turnover varying from years to millennia, depending on aquifer loca-
tion, type, depth, properties, and connectivity. Due to continual withdrawal of water,
water table is declining gradually, both for rural and urban aquifers. This situation is
widespread in many parts of the world. Besides, the recent declining trend is much
higher than that of the past. The rate would be higher in the near future. This would
be due to higher economic growth and increase in income and consequent change
in habitat, demand in industry, and possible climate change.
Excessive pumping can lead to groundwater depletion, where groundwater is
extracted at a rate faster that it can be replenished. Unregulated groundwater use
leads to the “Tragedy of the Commons,” with the eventual depletion of the resource
and ruin to all. The cost of development and cost per unit quantity would be
higher. The effects of excessive groundwater development tend to become appar-
ent gradually, with time often measured in decades. To minimize abrupt decline
of groundwater and thus the anticipated catastrophic events, the dependency on
groundwater must be reduced and be used in a sustainable manner.
Relevant Journals
- Water Resources
- Water Resources Management
- Water Resources Research (American Geographical Union)
- Water International
- Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (ASCE, USA)
- Water Resources Bulletin (American Water Works Association)
- Advances in Water Resources (Elsevier)
- Water and Environment Journal
- International Journal of Water Resources Development (Butterworths Scientific
Ltd, UK)
- International Journal of Water
- Agricultural Water Management
- Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Division, ASCE
- Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers
- Journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- Ground Water (American Water Works Association)
- Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation
- Journal of Water Chemistry and Technology
- Journal of Hydrology (Elsevier)
- Irrigation and Drainage System
- Irrigation Science
- Journal of Applied Irrigation Science (Germany)
- Hydrological Sciences Journal (Blackwell, UK)
- Environmental and Resource Economics