Realistic assessment and prediction of groundwater resources, at appropriate scales, are crucial for proper management and systematic development of groundwater in India. An equivalent porous medium (EPM)-based groundwater flow model is implemented for a typical hard-rock aquifer in central India, to provide quantification, analysis and prediction of groundwater balance components. This research also provides refined estimates of aquifer parameters, recharge factors and newer insights into groundwater dynamics. It is observed that evaporative losses and effluent seepage of groundwater to rivers jointly account for ~20% of the annual recharge, which is significantly higher than most prior regional assessments. Evaluation of groundwater resource use under a business-as-usual scenario shows annual groundwater draft to exceed recharge by 13% in the year 2020–2021, and under a worst-case scenario (with prevailing drought conditions) this deficit is predicted to increase to 30%. However, with suitable recharge augmentation and demand control measures, in the best-case scenario, groundwater draft can be contained to ~90% of annual recharge, thereby ensuring long-term sustainability of groundwater resources. Importantly, this study reveals that demand control measures can be more effective than recharge augmentation measures.

在适当的规模上对地下水资源进行现实的评估和预测，对于正确管理和系统开发印度的地下水至关重要。针对印度中部典型的硬岩含水层，采用了基于等效多孔介质（EPM）的地下水流模型，以提供地下水平衡成分的量化，分析和预测。这项研究还提供了含水层参数，补给因子和对地下水动力学的最新见解的精确估计。据观察，蒸发损失和地下水向河流的渗漏共同构成了年补给量的约20％，大大高于大多数先前的区域评估。在照常工作的情况下对地下水资源的使用情况进行的评估表明，2020-2021年的年度地下水消耗量将超过补给量的13％，在最坏的情况下（普遍干旱），预计这一赤字将增加到30％。但是，通过适当的补给增加和需求控制措施，在最佳情况下，可以将地下水消耗控制在年补给量的90％左右，从而确保了地下水资源的长期可持续性。重要的是，这项研究表明，需求控制措施可能比补给措施更为有效。地下水的消耗量约占年度补给量的90％，从而确保了地下水资源的长期可持续性。重要的是，这项研究表明，需求控制措施可能比补给措施更为有效。地下水的消耗量可以控制在年补给量的90％左右，从而确保了地下水资源的长期可持续性。重要的是，这项研究表明，需求控制措施可能比补给措施更为有效。