INTRODUCTIONTOGROUNDWATERMODELING,ACASESTUDYOFLAHORE.pptVIP

ASSESSMENT OF GROUNDWATER POTENTIAL USING ISOTOPIC, GEOCHEMICAL AND NUMERICAL MODELING TECHNIQUES (a case study of Lahore aquifer) OVERVIEW OF THE TALK Evolution of Indus River System Aquifers and Groundwater Recharge and Discharge Groundwater Quantity and Quality Case Studies: Lahore Aquifer EVOLUTION OF INDUS RIVER SYSTEM As the Himalayas gained their maximum height, the present watershed system of Indus, Brahma-Putra and Ganges emerged and attained the present geographical position The course of the rivers Indus, Brahma-Putra, Ganges and their tributaries is constantly changing, as the slope of the land is changing due to tectonic stresses The Himalayas are still rising but due to erosion, they have attained a steady height The river systems are responsible for the development of thick pile of sediments (~2 KM thick) to the south from Himalayan foothills to the Arabian Sea Delta The alluvial sediments constitute aquifers which store huge amount of fresh water which is termed as groundwater IMPORTANT FEATURES OF GROUNDWATER Upper part of Lithosphere (approximately 1 KM) supports fresh groundwater aquifers To the depth of approximately 800 meters below the water table, about 4 million cubic kilometers of water is present (Singh, 1992) In the upper 800 meters of the continental crust, the groundwater volume is 3000 times greater than that of all the rivers at any one time and about 20 times greater than the combined volume of water in all the rivers and lakes together. Surface water bodies (Rivers Lakes) respond rapidly to rain events but; Groundwater has a much longer natural accumulation and discharge time Total Amount of Groundwater Available in Pakistan Fresh groundwater is present along the rivers about 10 km to each side to the depth of 1 km Total amount of fresh groundwater is about 25000 km3 IMPORTANT FEATURES OF GROUNDWATER Groundwater is buffered against short-term weather and climate processes The huge reserves of fresh groundwater are not