ASSESSMENT OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIATION OF GROUNDWATER RECHARGE IN RECHNA DOAB USING MODELING APPROACH

Abstract Economy of Pakistan is highly dependent on agriculture, but agricultural economy of Pakistan is under the risk as shortage of irrigation water is prevailing in the country. The Surface water resources are unable to meet the requirement of crops. Due to scarcity of surface irrigation water, agriculture has been shifting on the groundwater. Use of groundwater is increasing with time and water table is declining. Current falling scenario of groundwater table in most of areas of Pakistan is threating agriculture and food security of the country. Only way to preserve the fresh water for long time use is groundwater aquifer system and recharge is single depository of this unique water bank. Since management of aquifer system in accordance to recharge potential could be very beneficial to meet the alarming condition of water scarcity. Different studies have been conducted to estimate the behavior of groundwater in Pakistan, this study focus on the groundwater recharge potential specifically. For this, real time groundwater monitoring system is installed in the study area. Groundwater model MODFLOW is used for estimation of current groundwater potential and determination of future scenarios. This research is helpful for delineation of areas of potential recharge and formulation of stratifies for judicial use of groundwater recharge in future. Results from these research calibrated models shows that the decline in groundwater table was in normal range in areas near to the river and water bodies while a higher decline was observed in areas at a distance from water bodies. The groundwater recharge from river and watercourse seepage was the cause of this behavior.