Depletion of Water Table

1.9    Depletion of water table
          Increase in population, industrial and agricultural activities are some common factors affecting water table. Scanty rainfall is another factor that may deplete the water table.
(a)     Increasing population :Increasing population creates demand for construction of houses, shops, offices, roads and pavements. This decreases the open areas like parks and playgrounds. This, in turn, decreases the seepage of rainwater into the                      ground. Moreover, a huge amount of water is required for the construction work. Often groundwater is used for this purpose.
         So, on one hand we are consuming more groundwater, and on the other we are allowing lesser water to seep into the ground.

(b)   Increasing industries : Water is used by all the industries. Almost everything that we use needs water somewhere in its production process. The number of industries is increasing continuously. Water used by most of the industries is drawn from the                      ground.    

(c)    Agricultural activities : A majority of farmers in India depend upon rains for irrigating their crops. Irrigation systems such as canals are there only in a few places. Even these systems may suffer from lack of water due to erratic rainfall. Therefore, farmers          have to use groundwater for irrigation. Population pressure on agriculture forces increasing use of groundwater day by day. This results in depletion of water table.

(d)    Scanty rainfall or draught conditions : During long periods of scanty rainfall or in the absence of rainfall, this balance is disturbed. Usage of underground water continues more or less at the same level while its replenishment becomes very less or                    almost nil. This results in the depletion of water table. 

(e)    Deforestation : Deforestation results in the reduction of  forest area which allows the rain water flow rapidly into large water bodies. Seepage becomes less thereby leading to imbalance in the replenishment of underground water.