ABSTRACT
In the last two decades significant changes have taken place in India in the use of groundwater for irrigation, and currently about 60% of irrigated agriculture depends on groundwater pumping (Shah et al., 2003). Irrigation wells are managed by individual farmers and their management and replacements are made under their own control. Further, there is an increased reliance on groundwater irrigation due to fragmentation of farm land holdings and increasing numbers of marginal/small farmers. This has resulted in systematic changes in land use practices especially in the upland areas (recharge areas of river basins), which were not part of the green revolution during 1950-80. Depletion of water tables, contamination (by fluoride and nitrates) and over-extraction of groundwater have become critical issues in several regions of India. In addition, close to 90% of rural domestic water supply is from groundwater, and in most regions there are very few treatment plants in place for water supply. In the same vein, significant proportions of the water demand in the cities and towns are met from groundwater supplies.
