Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India

Nature volume 460, pages 999–1002 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Groundwater is a primary source of fresh water in many parts of the world. Some regions are becoming overly dependent on it, consuming groundwater faster than it is naturally replenished and causing water tables to decline unremittingly1. Indirect evidence suggests that this is the case in northwest India2, but there has been no regional assessment of the rate of groundwater depletion. Here we use terrestrial water storage-change observations from the NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites3 and simulated soil-water variations from a data-integrating hydrological modelling system4 to show that groundwater is being depleted at a mean rate of 4.0 ± 1.0 cm yr-1 equivalent height of water (17.7 ± 4.5 km3 yr-1) over the Indian states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana (including Delhi). During our study period of August 2002 to October 2008, groundwater depletion was equivalent to a net loss of 109 km3 of water, which is double the capacity of India’s largest surface-water reservoir. Annual rainfall was close to normal throughout the period and we demonstrate that the other terrestrial water storage components (soil moisture, surface waters, snow, glaciers and biomass) did not contribute significantly to the observed decline in total water levels. Although our observational record is brief, the available evidence suggests that unsustainable consumption of groundwater for irrigation and other anthropogenic uses is likely to be the cause. If measures are not taken soon to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, the consequences for the 114,000,000 residents of the region may include a reduction of agricultural output and shortages of potable water, leading to extensive socioeconomic stresses.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Groundwater withdrawals as a percentage of recharge.
Figure 2: GRACE averaging function.
Figure 3: Monthly time series of water storage anomalies in northwestern India.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Postel, S. in Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World’s Freshwater Resources (ed. Gleick, P. H.) 56–66 (Oxford Univ. Press, 1993)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Central. Ground Water Board. Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India (as on March 2004) (Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, 2006)

  3. Tapley, B. D., Bettadpur, S., Ries, J. C., Thompson, P. F. & Watkins, M. M. GRACE measurements of mass variability in the Earth system. Science 305, 503–505 (2004)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Rodell, M. et al. The Global Land Data Assimilation System. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 85, 381–394 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Changnon, S. A., Huff, F. A. & Hsu, C. F. Relations between precipitation and shallow groundwater in Illinois. J. Clim. 1, 1239–1250 (1988)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sturchio, N. C. et al. One million year old groundwater in the Sahara revealed by krypton-81 and chlorine-36. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L05503 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Livingston, M. L. & Garrido, A. Entering the policy debate: an economic evaluation of groundwater policy in flux. Wat. Resour. Res. 40 10.1029/2003WR002737 (2004)

  8. Kumar, R., Singh, R. D. & Sharma, K. D. Water resources of India. Curr. Sci. 89, 794–811 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Briscoe, J. India’s Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future. Report No. 34750-IN, viii–xi (World Bank, 2005)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Mall, R. K., Gupta, A., Singh, R., Singh, R. S. & Rathore, L. S. Water resources and climate change: an Indian perspective. Curr. Sci. 90, 1610–1626 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Zaisheng, H., Hao, W. & Rui, C. Transboundary Aquifers in Asia with Special Emphasis to China 10–18 (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India. Central Ground Water Authority 〈http://cgwb.gov.in/GroundWater/gw_regulation.htm〉 (2009)

  13. Yeh, P. J.-F., Swenson, S. C., Famiglietti, J. S. & Rodell, M. Remote sensing of groundwater storage changes in Illinois using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Wat. Resour. Res. 42 10.1029/2006WR005374 (2006)

  14. Rodell, M. et al. Estimating ground water storage changes in the Mississippi River basin (USA) using GRACE. Hydrogeol. J. 15 10.1007/s10040-006-0103-7 (2007)

  15. Huffman, G. J. et al. The TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA): quasi-global, multiyear, combined-sensor precipitation estimates at fine scales. J. Hydrometeorol. 8, 38–55 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Xie, P. P. & Arkin, P. A. Global precipitation: a 17-year monthly analysis based on gauge observations, satellite estimates, and numerical model outputs. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 78, 2539–2558 (1997)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Persson, A. User Guide to ECMWF Forecast Products. Meteorological Bulletin M3.2 (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Rodell, M., Chao, B. F., Au, A. Y., Kimball, J. & McDonald, K. Global biomass variation and its geodynamic effects, 1982–1998. Earth Interact. 9, 1–19 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Dyurgerov, M. B. & Meier, M. F. Glaciers and the Changing Earth System: A 2004 Snapshot. Occasional Paper No. 58 (Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, 2005)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Central. Water Commission, Government of India. National Register of Large Dams – 2002 (Government of India, 2002)

  21. Frolking, S., Yeluripati, J. B. & Douglas, E. New district-level maps of rice cropping in India: a foundation for scientific input into policy. Field Crops Res. 98 10.1016/j.fcr.2006.01.004 (2006)

  22. Rodell, M. & Famiglietti, J. S. An analysis of terrestrial water storage variations in Illinois with implications for the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Wat. Resour. Res. 37, 1327–1340 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Siebert, S. et al. Development and validation of the global map of irrigation areas. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 9, 535–547 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Swenson, S. & Wahr, J. Post-processing removal of correlated errors in GRACE data. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33 10.1029/2005GL025285 (2006)

  25. Wahr, J., Swenson, S. & Velicogna, I. The accuracy of GRACE mass estimates. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33 10.1029/2005GL025305 (2006)

  26. Swenson, S. & Wahr, J. Multi-sensor analysis of water storage variations of the Caspian Sea. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34 10.1029/2007GL030733 (2007)

  27. Kato, H. et al. Sensitivity of land surface simulations to model physics, land characteristics, and forcings, at four CEOP Sites. J. Meteorol. Soc. Jpn 87A, 187–204 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Velicogna, I. & Wahr, J. Acceleration of Greenland ice mass loss in spring 2004. Nature 443, 329–331 (2006)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Cheng, M. K. & Tapley, B. D. Variations in the Earth’s oblateness during the past 28 years. J. Geophys. Res. 109, B09402 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Paulson, A., Zhong, S. & Wahr, J. Inference of mantle viscosity from GRACE and relative sea level data. Geophys. J. Int. 171, 497–508 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank H. K. Beaudoing for assistance in preparing the GLDAS time series. This research was funded by grants from NASA’s Solid Earth and Natural Hazards Program, Terrestrial Hydrology Program and Cryospheric Science Program.

Author Contributions M.R. and J.S.F. performed background research and designed the study. I.V. led the GRACE data analysis. M.R. and I.V. wrote the manuscript and prepared the figures. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hydrological Sciences Branch, Code 614.3, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA ,

    Matthew Rodell

  2. Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-3100, USA,

    Isabella Velicogna & James S. Famiglietti

  3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109-8099, USA ,

    Isabella Velicogna

  4. Department of Physics, University of Udine, 208 Via delle Scienze, 33100 Udine, Italy,

    Isabella Velicogna

Authors
  1. Matthew Rodell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Isabella Velicogna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. James S. Famiglietti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew Rodell.

Additional information

The GRACE data used here were produced by the Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin, and are available from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html). GLDAS data are available from the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/hydrology).

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rodell, M., Velicogna, I. & Famiglietti, J. Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India. Nature 460, 999–1002 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08238

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08238

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing