Remote sensing and GIS techniques for the study of springs in a watershed in Garhwal in the Himalayas, India

Water has been described as the elixir of life, the source of energy that s ustains life on Earth and the factor that governs the evolution and the fun ctioning of the universe. Increased use of water in the face of the impairm ent of the natural environment and ecology and the drying up of springs and reduction in their discharge and those of streams in the Lesser and Outer Himalayas are the most serious problems calling for study and exploration o f groundwater resources in the Himalayan region. The hilly regions of India are facing a serious water availability crisis, particularly during summer months. Viable sources of water, such as springs in the Himalayas, which are plentiful in the hills, are drying up due to r apid and unplanned developments. The present study deals with the delineati on of springs in the Chandrabhaga watershed using remote sensing and GIS te chnologies. The study demonstrates that the coincidence of lineaments, deri ved from merged satellite data, and the drainage density show good correlat ion with the present spring locations in the Chandrabhaga watershed. The st udy shows also that the locations of various springs have changed since 198 1, perhaps due to rapid changes in the landuse pattern in the watershed bet ween 1981 and 1997. Besides landuse, topography, geology and geological str uctures are among the most influential factors affecting spring location an d discharge. An integrated approach of remote sensing and GIS is proved to be an efficacious technique for the study of springs in a mountainous water shed.