ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF WATER HARVESTING ON WATER RESOURCES

Clean water supplies, like all natural resources, are becoming scarce all over the world, but especially in developing countries where special interest groups (such as city governments, commercial farmers, other villages downstream, etc.) fight over water rights. The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) is a non-government organization in India whose mission is to restore degraded lands through cooperation with rural villages. In order to increase the water supply to the ecosystem, FES constructs water harvesting structures (WHS) which impound rainfall, water that would have otherwise runoff and contributed to erosion, in surface storage. This study was conducted to assess the impact of the WHS on the environment and the effectiveness of extending the water supply through the dry season. To accomplish this task, a surface water balance was formulated to estimate the natural hydrologic characteristics of the system and an analytical balance over the WHS was designed to approximate the infiltration from the standing pool. A conceptual model of the hydrogeology of the Deccan Traps was created to determine the approach to the solution of the water balance. Digital data provided by FES was compiled and organized using ESRI\u27s ArcGIS. The geology of the study area was surveyed in the spring of 2007 through surface mapping and vertical electrical sounding. A geologic map was drawn and a basic conceptualization of the flow of groundwater through the subsurface was formulated. It is hoped that this study will be the beginning of a project which will aid FES, other NGO\u27s and the Indian government in promoting self-management and cooperative usage of available water resources in rural villages