Groundwater supplies in northern India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh could be more endangered by contamination than by depletion.
The Indo-Gangetic Basin includes the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems and is one of the world's most heavily used freshwater reservoirs. Previous low-resolution satellite data suggested that current exploitation rates are unsustainable. To study the region in greater detail, Alan MacDonald at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh and his colleagues examined records from nearly 3,500 water wells and other high-resolution data to estimate groundwater levels and quality within the top 200 metres of the aquifer. The team found that 60% of the system was plagued with high levels of salt, arsenic and other pollutants. But across 70% of the aquifer, the water table has been stable, or has even risen, from 2000 to 2012.
Groundwater quality should be monitored to provide data for policymakers, the authors suggest.
Nature Geosci. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2791 (2016)
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South Asia water supplies at risk. Nature 537, 10 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/537010a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/537010a
