Studies on Occurrence, Distribution and Sustainability of Natural Springs for Rural Water Supply in parts of Western Ghats, India

Abstract

The Western Ghats of the Indian Peninsula is dotted with innumerable springs, many of which are utilized for local water supply and many flows unnoticed unrecognized of the vast potential they possess for the service of the humankind. This is an attempt to study these springs in the Koyna River basin, a headwater basin, that characteristically represents the Western Ghats region in Maharashtra State. The objective is to explore the possible use of these springs for the regeneration of forests in the Western Ghats, once a thickly forested tract, but now a barren piece of denuded land. Close examination of more than 50 springs reveals that their origins are highly dependent on the lithological characters of different basaltic flow units and the existing terrain physiography. Their discharges vary between 4-400 m3/d in the winter and 2-200 m3/d in the summer. Although rainfall, its seasonality, and areas of recharge play vital roles in the recharge of these springs, their yields are also controlled by lithological variations and hydraulic characteristics of their source-aquifers. Chemically, these springs offer a very high quality of groundwater, their chemical concentrations depending heavily on the lithological compositions of the source aquifers and the residence time of ground water issuing as springs in these aquifers.