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Sajalam 2024-25

Water Resource Management and Conservation Plan for Semi Critical Blocks

        Kerala receives an average rainfall of 3000 mm annually and have plenty of rivers and streams across the state. Though we are blessed with enough rainfall the groundwater recharge through rains is not happening at the expected level. One of the reasons for this is our unique physiography. The rain that falls in the hilly area of the state is reaching the sea in no time. The  geology, geomorphology, land forms, land use and soil characteristics also determines the recharge rate of a region. Ground water recharge is also affected by human activities including  conversion of wetlands, development activities in eco-sensitive areas, over exploitation of ground water resources for various activities etc. The climate change also increasingly influencing the ground water depletion. Climate change causes changes to the water cycle which in turn affect groundwater in several ways: There can be a decline in groundwater storage, reduction in groundwater recharge and water quality deterioration due to extreme weather events. In this aspect, it is evident that there is a need for scientific study to plan water conservation activities for the effective management of water resources.

Objective

     Based on ground water recharge and variation in water level over time, the State groundwater department has classified block panchayaths into different categories viz, safe, semi critical and critical zones. The main objective of the project is to prepare a comprehensive water resource management and conservation plan for the blocks falling under semi critical category

Area of study

        The stage of ground water extraction (SOE) computed as the ratio of Existing Gross Ground Water Extraction for all uses and the Annual Extractable Ground water Recharge expressed in percentage is used to categorize the assessment units (block panchayths) into “Over exploited”, “Critical”, “Semi critical” and “Safe” class as per the criteria suggested in GEC-2015 methodology. The state groundwater department has classified 152 block panchayths in Kerala into four categories on this basis.

During 2024-25, the department proposed to prepare water recourse management and conservation plan for 3 severely affected semi critical blocks viz.Pannur block (SOE-87.40%) of Kannur district, Pothencode block (SOE-86.68%) of Thiruvananthapuram district and Kondotty block (SOE-86.42%) of Malappuram district.

  1. Pannur block- 4 Panchayths
  2. Pothencode block – 5 Panchayaths
  3. Kondotty block – 7 Panchayths

Output

  • A detailed report for the block elaborating the measures for revival of existing water resources, site specific water conservation activities to be followed, engineering methods to increase ground water level, recommendations for rain water harvesting structure
  • Better resilience of the Block to drought and  floods.