Water resource accounting for an iron-ore mining area in India

A study has been conducted at the Bicholim iron-ore mine, North Goa, India to investigate the hydrogeological continuity between the mine's open pit a nd surrounding villages. Water resource accounting by demarcating different watersheds has also been carried out to analyse the major causes of ground water scarcity in the region during dry periods. A resistivity survey and a ground penetrating radar survey were completed around the periphery of ope n pits, the surrounding village areas and Mayem Lake. The results of the tw o independent surveys and other related data confirm that there is no obser vable hydrogeological continuity between the pits, nearby villages and Maye m Lake. Hence, there may not be any significant effect on surrounding water resources due to mining or mine dewatering. Water resource accounting has revealed that only 15-20% of 3500 mm precipitation per annum becomes part o f the groundwater resource. The remainder of the annual precipitation is lo st as heavy runoff, evapotranspiration and subsurface capillary moisture. C losely spaced wells in the region have also aggravated the groundwater scar city problem due to draw down effects. Therefore, an effective water resour ce conservation plan is required for the region to overcome the problem.