Water Stress Assessment in Jharkhand State Using Soil Data and GIS

In this paper an attempt has been made to study the interrelationship of water resources available with that of soil class and its properties including soil drainage and erosional characteristics which has been used to generate drainage stress map and water stress map inferring the basic reason for water scarcity in the district of Jharkhand, India. It has been found that 62.71% of soil is classified as well – excessively drained soils whereas only 18.13% of soil is imperfectly-poorly drained. It was also found that only 12.31% and 28.4% of total soil show slight erosion and severe erosion characteristics whereas remaining is moderately eroded. Jharkhand state is facing acute water crisis and due to lowering of ground water table. Thus this work would help the administrators and decision makers in assessing the role of soil in groundwater recharge. It has been concluded that soil is an important factor that controls ground water recharge and water stress of the region. GIS has proved to be an important tool in assessing the area in short span of time. An attempt has been made to highlight that there are various natural parameters that control ground water recharge and soil is one of the controlling parameter in Jharkhand (INDIA).