The rains in the State have recharged groundwater to the extent of 220 tmcft.
Before the advent of the monsoon, the average depth of the water table was 12.11 metres below ground level (BGL).
The rains have recharged the groundwater level and raised it by 2.43 metres to 9.68 metres BGL.
According to the calculations of the Groundwater Department, 90 tmcft is required to raise the level of the water table by one metre and 218.7 tmcft is required to raise the average groundwater level by 2.43 metres. “It is currently more than the water available in the Srisailam reservoir, which was 204.79 tmcft as on Saturday,” said Groundwater Department Joint Director and OSD to Water Resource Department A. Varaprasada Rao.
In yet another encouraging development, the average depth of the water table in all nine coastal districts is now above eight metres BGL.
The government has stipulated that the ideal depth of the water table should not be deeper than eight metres after summer and three metres after rainy season (that is more that 8 metres and 3 metres BGL at any time). Hundreds of piezometers have been installed to measure the groundwater level in real time.
Unique situation in Vizianagaram
The average groundwater table was uncomfortably high in Vizianagaram district, where it touched 3.09 metres BGL at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Areas with water table below 3 meters are considered prone to water-logging and not ideal for cultivating crops susceptible to water stress.
Srikakulam is another district where the water table is 3.89 metres BGL.
On the other end of the spectrum, the water table in Prakasam district is recorded to be 15.71 metres BGL.
In West Godavari, it is 15.43 metres BGL. With regard to Rayalaseema, the water table in Anantapur is as deep as 20.07 metres BGL and in Kadapa it is 15.47 metres BGL.
The water table of Rayalaseema is on the average 14.43 metres BGL
Mr. Varaprasada Rao said that the State government was giving a lot of importance to groundwater because it was not subject to evaporation or contamination like in a water course of tank. The government’s efforts to promote digging of farm ponds helped in recharging the groundwater and creation of water storage capacity. The government had put drought on the natural calamity list and was resorting to highly focused efforts to save standing crop.
The use of rain guns (sprinklers) in Rayalaseema was one such effort, he said.
