Groundwater in the Indo-Gangetic basin: evolution of groundwater typologies

The Indo-Gangetic Basin comprises one of the world’s most important aquifers. The basin is home to approximately 1 billion people and encompasses northern and eastern India, much of Bangladesh, parts of southern Nepal and the most populous areas of Pakistan. Despite the presence of large rivers, much of the basin’s population are dependent on groundwater for drinking water, and the groundwater resource is highly exploited through an estimated 20 million boreholes to support a globally important agricultural industry. The security of supply from this aquifer is threatened by environmental change and increased abstraction. In order to help understand the aquifer and characterise its resilience to change we have developed a groundwater typology map for the basin.