Comparative study of ground recharge rates in parts of Indo-Gangetic and Sabarmati alluvial plains

Abstract

Tritium tracing data of soil moisture movement for groundwater recharge estimation from four river basins in India have been examined. Of the two commonly used empirical formulae, viz Amritsar and Chaturvedi formulae, the former gives consistently higher estimate of groundwater recharge in all the four regions. The Chaturvedi formula gives reasonable estimates of groundwater recharge for sandy loam soils in parts of lndo-Gangetic plains, but gives significantly higher values of groundwater recharge for similar soils in Sabarmati basin. For each basin based on tritium tracing of soil moisture movement, empirical relations have been developed within parts of a basin. It is desirable to investigate each region individual.