Shakeel Ahmed & Ramaswamy Jayakumar 
Groundwater Dynamics in Hard Rock Aquifers 
Sustainable Management and Optimal Monitoring Network Design

Groundwater is of utmost importance in the arid and semi-arid environment. The areas in such regions are forced to face a variety of problems regarding groundwater as it is the main source of water no matter for any use viz., drinking, domestic, irrigation or industrial particularly for the rural population. The main challenges in hard rock areas in the semi-arid region are the water conservation, management and planning of the water resources. This is further complicated with several complexities of the geological formation. With the semi-arid environment, complex geological settings and over shooting stresses, the aquifer system becomes extremely fragile and sensitive. In spite of a good amount of research in this field, it is still needed to understand the behaviour of such complex system precisely and also apply the result in reasonably larger scales. Therefore, the present research is focused on improving the knowledge on the structure and functioning of the aquifer system in hard rock terrain.

Table of Content

Hydrogeological Research in India in Managing Water Resources.- Nature of Hard Rock Aquifers: Hydrogeological Uncertainties and Ambiguities.- Overview of the Hydrogeology of Hard Rock Aquifers: Applications for their Survey, Management, Modelling and Protection.- Geophysical Characterization of Hard Rock Aquifers.- Application of Remote Sensing and GIS in Groundwater Exploration.- Pumping Tests: Planning, Preparation and Execution.- Various Pumping Tests and Methods for Evaluation of Hydraulic Properties in Fractured Hard Rock Aquifers.- Analyses of Aquifer Parameters from Different Hydraulic Tests and Their Scale Effect.- Upscaling of Slug Test Hydraulic Conductivity Using Discrete Fracture Network Modelling in Granitic Aquifers.- Groundwater Balance at the Watershed Scale in a Hard Rock Aquifer Using GIS.- Water Budgeting and Construction of Future Scenarios for Prediction and Management of Ground Water under Stressed Condition.- Applying Geostatistics: Basic Knowledge and Variographic Analysis with Exercises.- Kriging for Estimating Hydrogeological Parameters.- Application of Geostatistics in Optimal Groundwater Monitoring Network Design.- Reconstruction of Water Level Time Series in an Aquifer Using Geostatistical Technique.- Governing Equations of Groundwater Flow and Aquifer Modelling Using Finite Difference Method.- Simulation of Flow in Weathered-Fractured Aquifer in a Semi-Arid and Over-Exploited Region.- Regional Simulation of a Groundwater Flow in Coastal Aquifer, Tamil Nadu, India.- Hydrogeology of Hard Rock Aquifer in Kashmir Valley: Complexities and Uncertainties.