From the President’s Desk

In Kinship’s early years, our main goal was simply finding each other in a very hostile world. As time progressed, we were there for each other during the AIDS crisis; we supported each other through the Colin Cook “reparative therapy” abuse debacle; we encouraged each other as some of us were removed from our churches, thrown out of schools, or abandoned by our families or homes. Through all of this, Kinship has been a safe harbor. And it continues to be.


Secretary's Column
The journey of the Indian Chapter of IAH started in 1984 and we have already completed 35 years. Since 2014 we have achieved a lot i.e., successfully completing six workshops/Seminars, conferring five consecutive Mrs Savitri Chadha INC-IAH awards and many more. In the initial days there were very few members, whereas in 2019, 90 members are already enrolled. Though the e-newsletter is not regular, but sincere efforts are made to revive & regularise it. This enewsletter will feature some permanent column likerecent research in Hydrogeology, one ground water related article, International Participation of INC-IAH members, Awards/honour, Forthcoming Seminar etc.
The e-newsletter would survive and thrive if contributions come regularly from the Members. We are striving to make the e-newsletter to a meaningful and researched news letter in Hydrogeology. We welcome contributions from all of you to make this newsletter a media for dissemination of knowledge of the ensuing and emerging issues of the subject.
The efforts by our IAH Colleagues Dr Sudhanshu Shekhar & Dr Arunangshu Mukherjee in rebuilding the newsletter is commendable. Hope this new e-Newsletter will achieve the envisaged goals. However we assure our esteemed readers that it will be our endeavour to bring out more informative issues in future `Dr

Introduction
Pan Indian aquifer classification has been attempted within the country since long and the latest in this series was that introduced by Central Ground Water Board in 2012. The modern aquifer classification in India evolved from Groundwater Provenance described first by Taylor (1959) & modified by Dr R.L. Singh (1971) and converted by ACWADAM to groundwater typologies. Further, aquifer system of Indian sub continent has been discussed recently (Mukherjee et al 2015). These classifications however are found short of satisfaction to deal with complexities and challenges imposed by the huge extraction of groundwater in parts of country and also explaining the temporal and spatial variations of groundwater quality and its pollution. Further, groundwater situations in the country instigated for a paradigm shift from groundwater development to groundwater management and forced to attempt country wide aquifer mapping & management program. The aquifer classification adopted for national aquifer mapping programme is based on the studies under taken by Central Ground Water Board in the country.
All systematic classifications are invariably based on certain principal of division. And such divisions when unable to fulfil the expectations new classifications are felt required. Alternative aquifer classification for India is also felt inevitable seeing inherent fallacy of existing one. Present attempt is primarily based on natural hydrogeological division of water bearing formations that depends on the type of porosity and permeability and further, its affinity with the group.

Methodology
The present classification is based on predominantly on the porosity and permeability characters of aquifer which has been attempted first time in this form. All the geological formation which forms aquifer in India has been classified into two broad divisions-the soft rock aquifer and hard rock aquifer. The soft rocks are those rocks having predominantly inter-granular space or primary porosity. The soft rock aquifers has been further sub divided in to two group based on the consolidation character of strata. The hard rocks are those rocks which predominantly fracture porosity or having weathered mental. The proposed classification group similar porosity characters in same division and further sub division is based on their permeability and litho chronostratigraphic affinity or geographical location of their occurrence. That is the uniqueness of this classification, whereas in all the previous classification of aquifers of India has taken the chronostratigraphic position of aquifer as primary characteristic to classify the aquifer or is the based on geographical position.
The coding and colour coding of the present classification separates division, sub division aquifer and aquifers groups. To solve the area specific aquifer position in the classification a Colum has been introduced for aquifer with code and or other an area specific aquifer which has not been mention in presents scheme can be introduced following the example given as per the division, subdivision and the group. These clearly differentiate the aquifer character as well as keep broadly similar aquifer in same group.

Conclusion
For effective and coordinated aquifer mapping within the country, aquifers needs first to be distinguish clearly so that their geometry and inter relationship of a system can be established for resource estimation. In soft and hard rock aquifer the recharge mechanism varies considerably. The present classification is capable of differentiate aquifers based on their hydraulic properties and thus is more genetic nature . 2

Delhi at epicentre of global groundwater crisis: Report
New research has shown that the largest groundwater depletion in the world is happening in northern India. Delhi is the epicentre of this fastdeveloping crisis, and it's getting worse by the day."From Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Western UP and Rajasthan, 32 cubic km of water is being lost every year, which is much more than the usual, and it's only partially being recovered in successive monsoons," said Dr Virendra M Tiwari, director of National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), which conducted the research. In summers, the strain on underground aquifers is higher. "In a drought year, the extraction in northern India is going up to 100 cubic km," he said. Scientists say that groundwater is being pumped out 70% faster than what the Central Groundwater Board of India estimated earlier. Some reports say around 172 cubic km of water was pumped out in the 1990s every year. "We have no clue how much ground water storage is left in the region. But what we clearly know is that the picture is very grim," said Tiwari in an interview to STOI. With the surge in population and shrinking of surface water resources, the level of water in underground aquifers in the region is falling by over 10 cm per year, research has shown. "And yes, Delhi is the centre of that with several other environmental impacts. Nutrients are dying out, soil type is going bad. It has a huge cascading effect," Tiwari said.The report comes close on the heels of a Niti Aayog report last year that predicted that Delhi, along with several other metros, could run out of groundwater by 2020. According to NGRI estimates, Delhi requires 1 cubic km of water every year for drinking, industrial and domestic purposes. The top NGRI scientist also feared that drying up of the Indo-Gangetic basin, comprising some 2,000 km of land from Pakistan to Bangladesh, may also trigger moderate earthquakes. Drying up of groundwater by using bigger pumps from deeper borewells is also causing large scale contamination of water. While 10 years ago, arsenic-contaminated water was largely seen in some parts of West Bengal and Bihar, it's now being seen moving in a northwest direction. T he Ganga basin region has two big aquifers. While one is the upper aquifer, which has already shown arsenic contamination, the lower aquifer is free from it. But people have started to overexploit both, leading to more cross contamination, scientists say. Multiple studies by research agencies have shown how paddy is getting infected with arsenic, and there are fears that it will affect other crops and have a disastrous impact on health. "All the groundwater pumping is happening for agriculture and perhaps cannot be stopped. So now, you have to find a way to manage sustainable water," Tiwari says. Worried over the state of groundwater in India, the government has entrusted NGRI to look for new aquifers in the country. Scientists here have used helicopter-borne electro-magnetic tools to find new fractures zones beneath the earth, containing untapped water in cities like Surat, Nagpur, Tumkur in Karnataka, among other areas."We have found new aquifers and now we have to upscale our work in those areas and ensure proper water management methods are followed while drawing water," Tiwari added. A huge success for NGRI has been in Surat, where Tiwari says they could locate new source of groundwater for the city using heli-borne technology. Source; Times of India, 24th Feb 2019

Microplastic contamination found in groundwater
Microplastics contaminate the world's surface waters, yet scientists have only just begun to explore their presence in groundwater systems. A new study is the first to report microplastics in fractured limestone aquifers -a groundwater source that accounts for 25 percent of the global drinking water supply. The study identified microplastic fibers, along with a variety of medicines and household contaminants, in two aquifer systems in Illinois. The findings are published in the journal Groundwater."Plastic in the environment breaks down into microscopic particles that can end up in the guts and gills of marine life, exposing the animals to chemicals in the plastic," said John Scott, a researcher at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and study co-author. "As the plastics break down, they act like sponges that soak up contaminants and microbes and can ultimately work their way into our food supply."Groundwater flows through the cracks and voids in limestone, sometimes carrying sewage and runoff from roads, landfills and agricultural areas into the aquifers below, Scott said. The researchers collected 17 groundwater samples from wells and springs -11 from a highly fractured limestone aquifer near the St. Louis metropolitan area and six from an aquifer containing much smaller fractures in rural northwestern Illinois. All but one of the 17 samples contained microplastic particles, with a maximum concentration of 15.2 particles per liter from a spring in the St. Louis area, the study reports. However, deciphering what that concentration means is a challenge, Scott said. There are no published risk assessment studies or regulations.The researchers did find, however, that concentrations from their field area are comparable to those of surface water concentrations found in the rivers and streams in the Chicago area, said Samuel V. Panno, an Illinois State Geological Survey researcher and lead author of the study."The research on this topic is at a very early stage, so I am not convinced we have a frame of reference to state expectations or bounds on what is considered low or high levels," said Tim Hoellein, a biology professor at Loyola University Chicago and study co-author. "Our questions are still basic -how much is there and where is it coming from?"The researchers identified a variety of household and personal health contaminants along with the microplastics, a hint that the fibers may have originated from household septic systems."Imagine how many thousands of polyester fibers find their way into a septic system from just doing a load of laundry," Scott said. "Then consider the potential for those fluids to leak into the groundwater supply, especially in these types of aquifers where surface water interacts so readily with groundwater."There is still a monumental amount of work to be done on this subject, Scott said. He anticipates that microplastic contamination in both surface water and groundwater will be a problem for years to come."Even if we quit plastics cold turkey today, we will still deal with this issue for years because plastic never really goes away," Scott said. "It is estimated that 6.3 billion metric tons of plasticwaste have been produced since the 1940s, and 79 percent of that is now in landfills or the natural environment. To me, it is such a weird concept that these materials are intended for single use, yet they are designed to last forever."Source: -University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 25th Jan 2019 Water: underground source for billions could take more than a century to respond fully to climate change

RECENT RESEARCH /NEWS IN GROUND WATER
Groundwater is the biggest store of accessible freshwater in the world, providing billions of people with water for drinking and crop irrigation. That's all despite the fact that most will never see groundwater at its source -it's stored naturally below ground within the Earth's pores and cracks. While climate change makes dramatic changes to weather and ecosystems on the surface, the impact on the world's groundwater is likely to be delayed, representing a challenge for future generations. Groundwater stores are replenished by rainfall at the surface in a process known as "recharge". Unless intercepted by human-made pumps, this water eventually flows by gravity to "discharge" in streams, lakes, springs, wetlands and the ocean. A balance is naturally maintained between rates of groundwater recharge and discharge, and the amount of water stored underground. Groundwater discharge provides consistent flows of freshwater to ecosystems, providing a reliable water source which helped early human societies survive and evolve. When changes in climate or land use affect the rate of groundwater recharge, the depths of water tables and rates of groundwater discharge must also change to find a new balance.The time it takes for this new equilibrium to be found -known as the groundwater response time -ranges from months to tens of thousands of years, depending on the hydraulic properties of the subsurface and how connected groundwater is to changes at the land surface. Estimates of response times for individual aquifers -the valuable stores of groundwater which humans exploit with pumps -have been made previously, but the global picture of how quickly or directly Earth's groundwater will respond to climate change in the coming years and decades has been uncertain. To investigate this, we mapped the connection between groundwater and the land surface and how groundwater response time varies across the world. We found that below approximately three quarters of the Earth's surface, groundwater response times last over 100 years. Recharge happens unevenly around the world so this actually represents around half of the active groundwater flow on Earth.
This means that in these areas, any changes to recharge currently occurring due to climate change will only be fully realized in changes to groundwater levels and discharge to surface ecosystems more than 100 years in the future. We also found that, in general, the driest places on Earth have longer groundwater response times than more humid areas, meaning that groundwater stores beneath deserts take longer to fully respond to changes in recharge. In wetter areas where the water table is closer to the surface, groundwater tends to intersect the land surface more frequently, discharging to streams or lakes. This means there are shorter distances between recharge and discharge areas helping groundwater stores come to equilibrium more quickly in wetter landscapes. Hence, some groundwater systems in desert regions like the Sahara have response times of more than 10,000 years. Groundwater there is still responding to changes in the climate which occurred at the end of the last glacial period, when that region was much wetter.In contrast, many low lying equatorial regions, such as the Amazon and Congo basins, have very short response times and will re-equilibrate on timescales of less than a decade, largely keeping pace with climate changes to the water cycle. Geology also plays an important role in governing groundwater responses to climate variability. For example, the two most economically important aquifers in the UK are the limestone chalk and the Permo-Triassic sandstone.Despite both being in the UK and existing in the same climate, they have distinctly different hydraulic properties and, therefore, groundwater response times. Chalk responds in months to years while the sandstone aquifers take years to centuries. In comparison to surface water bodies such as rivers and lakes which respond very quickly and visibly to changes in climate, the hidden nature of groundwater means that these vast lag times are easily forgotten. Nevertheless, the slow pace of groundwater is very important for managing freshwater supplies.The long response time of the UK's Permo-Triassic sandstone aquifers means that they may provide excellent buffers during drought in the short term. Relying on groundwater from these aquifers may seem to have little impact on their associated streams and wetlands, but diminishing flows and less water could become more prevalent as time goes on. This is important to remember when making decisions about what rates of groundwater abstraction are sustainable. Groundwater response times may be much longer than human lifetimes, let alone political and electoral cycles. Source:-https://theconversation.com 12 th February 2019

Groundwater Depletion In India Major Concern, Warns Report
India accounts for almost one-fourth of the total groundwater extracted globally, more than that of China and the US combined thus using the largest amount of groundwater 24 per cent of the global total, according to a new report. Export of food and clothing items, while im portant sources of income, exacerbates this problem if production is not made sustainable, making it harder for many poor and marginalised communities to get access to clean water supply, warned the report released by WaterAid to mark World Water Day on March 22.The report by WaterAid, a non-profit organisation, titled "Beneath the Surface: The State of the World's Water 2019", said India accounted for almost one-fourth of the total groundwater extracted globally, more than that of China and the US combined. It said India also used the largest amount of groundwater 24 per cent of the global total -and the country's rate of groundwater depletion increased by 23 per cent between 2000 and 2010."India is the third largest exporter of groundwater 12 per cent of the global total," the report said.It further said wheat and rice were the two most important and highest water-guzzling crops that India produced."Rice is the least water-efficient grain and wheat has been the main driver in increasing irrigation stress.Replacing rice and wheat with other crops like maize, millets, sorghum mapped to suitable geographies could reduce irrigation water demand by one-third. "Though replacement of rice and wheat crops is challenging, in an ideal scenario, choice of crop needs to be matched with ecology and the amount of water available in the area it is being produced in," the report said.Noting that one kg of wheat required an average 1,654 litres of water, the report said 1 kg of rice requires an average 2,800 litres of water. "So, just for rice, a family of four consumes approximately 84,600 litres of virtual water in a month," it said."In 2014-15, India exported 37.2 lakh tonnes of basmati. To export this rice, the country used around 10 trillion litres of water, meaning India virtually exported 10 trillion litres of water," said the report released ahead of World Water Day.WaterAid India''s Chief Executive VK Madhavan, said this World Water Day (March 22), it is calling for production of these goods to be made more sustainable and for consumers to be more thoughtful in their purchasing habits. He said lack of access to clean water further pushes the marginalised and vulnerable communities towards a vicious circle of poverty."The burden of accessing water to meet daily needs prevents them from reaching their full potential by inhibiting their education, health and livelihood opportunities," he said. Madhavan said there is a dire need to invest in making clean water within the household accessible to everyone, everywhere."India's success in providing its citizens with access to clean water will significantly impact the success of global goals that the government has committed to," he added.India is currently ranked 120 among 122 countries in the water quality index.In 2015, Indian government committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6, which promises that by 2030 everyone will have access to clean water, decent sanitation and good hygiene. The human right to water must take priority ahead of other competing demands Source : NDTV, 19 th March 2019

NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON "WATER CONSERVATION AND POLLUTION-2015
One day National Workshop on "Water Conservation and Pollution" was jointly organized by the Indian National Committee of International

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF INC-IAH-2015
The

NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON "ROLE OF GROUND WATER IN SMART CITIES & VILLAGES"-2016
To    The main objective of the conference is for deliberations amongst stakeholders, planners and different stake holders like Govt organizations, National and International Research Institute , Industries, NGO'S , Voluntary organizations, individual to express their views and share experiences on Ground Water Sustainability to achieve water security. The conference focused on the issues related to Ground water sector and the possible solutions to achieve ground water sustainability. The event has been attended by more than 150 participants from various groups of society as planners, academia, groundwater professionals and experts, RWA, stakeholders and students from various parts of country. Shri Sompal , Former Minister of state, Water Resources, and Agriculture, Govt of India was chief guest on that occasion. Padam Shri M.C.Mehta, Sh K.C.Naik