Managing weathered fractured aquifers in a semi arid region under monsoon climatic conditions in India

摘要: In crystalline hard rock regions, the two aquifers zones viz., weathered and fractured with quite different properties are coupled through a mixed zone and are not separated by any aquicludes. This makes the system complex for understanding its structure and functioning. The IndoYFrench center for Groundwater Research at Hyderabad, India has taken up such an aquifer system and carried out detailed investigations to determine the parameters of the aquifers, conceptualize the flow conditions, simulate the flow in weatheredYfractured coupled system and analyse the effectiveness of artificially recharging the deeper aquifer. The semiYarid and monsoon climatic conditions with overYexploitation has changed the water resources scenario in such an aquifer system and made the weathered zone unsaturated with flows mainly taking place in the fractured zone. An intensive monitoring and a variety of experiments viz., geophysical, geological, geohydrological, hydraulic and numerical modelling has helped in understanding the structure and behaviour of the aquifer system, characterize the representative parameters and assess the potential with the water balance of the system.