Faculty Publications

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    Parametric studies were carried out to analyse the effect on sea water intrusion of freshwater recharge through a finite width strip parallel to the coast. A vertically integrated one-dimensional finite element model was used for this purpose. The studies included the analysis of the effect of location, width, intensity and the period of recharge on sea water-freshwater interface motion. Relationships were established between the interface motion and the recharge parameters applicable to wide ranging practical cases. From the studies, the ideal location for recharge was identified to achieve the maximum repulsion of intrusion. The width of recharge also affects the interface motion and the widths greater than 2% of the initial intrusion length were effective in controlling the intrusion. The results indicated that the reduction of intrusion up to 30% could be achieved through strip recharge. © 2001 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
    (Effect of strip recharge on sea water intrusion into aquifers; Effet d’une bande de recharge sur l’intrusion d’eau de mer dans les aquifères) Mahesha, A.
    2001
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    Effect of permeability of subsurface barrier on salt water intrusion in coastal aquifers
    (2006) Mahesha, A.; Lakshmikant, K.
    Semi-pervious, subsurface barriers are considered to be one of the viable solution for the control of saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers. Investigations are carried out in this work to assess the performance of the barrier with different permeabilities using a finite element model. The advancement of saltwater - freshwater interface and the water table profiles are monitored for fresh water withdrawals at inland locations under the scenarios of wide ranging hydraulic conductivities of the barrier. The results indicated that barrier is able to check the advancement of the intrusion significantly with the hydraulic conductivity being less than certain limit. The performance of the barrier is also compared with no barrier conditions. Marked variations in the interface and water table profiles are observed as compared to no barrier condition. The performance of the barrier was not found to be satisfactory beyond certain limit of permeability.
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    Simulation of varada aquifer system for sustainable groundwater development
    (2008) Ramesh, H.; Mahesha, A.
    Groundwater flow modeling has been used extensively worldwide with varying degrees of success. The ability to predict the groundwater flow is critical in planning and implementing groundwater development projects under increasing demand for fresh water resources. This paper presents the simulation of the aquifer system for planning the groundwater development of Varada basin, Karnataka, India using the Galerkin finite-element method. The government of Karnataka State, India is implementing the World Bank assisted project, "Jal Nirmal" for a sustainable development of the region, thereby ensuring a safe supply of drinking water to the northern districts of the state. Varada basin is one of the beneficiaries of the project in Haveri district. Field tests carried out in the study area indicate that the region is predominantly a confined aquifer with transmissivity and storage coefficients ranging from 5.787×10-6m2/s (0.500 m2/day) to 4.213×10-3m2/s (3.640×102m2/day) and 0.011-0.001× 10-2, respectively. This study mainly emphasizes the spatial and temporal variability of groundwater potential under different developmental scenarios. The model predictions were reasonably good with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.78 to 0.91 with the root mean square error of about 0.46-0.78 during calibration and validation. The stated accuracies are based on comparisons between measured and calculated heads. The outcome of the study would be a useful input for the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater planning for the sustainable development of the region. © 2008 ASCE.
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    Conceptual model for the safe withdrawal of freshwater from coastal aquifers
    (2009) Mahesha, A.
    The effect of subsurface barrier on the motion of the saltwater-freshwater interface in coastal aquifers is analyzed for wide ranging freshwater pumping scenarios. A Galerkin finite-element model considering sharp interface approach is used for this purpose. A semi-pervious subsurface barrier extending up to impervious bottom of the aquifer is considered at certain distance inland, parallel to the seacoast. The effect of barrier is analyzed in checking the advancement of the saltwater-freshwater interface under different scenarios of freshwater withdrawals at seaward and landward locations of the barrier and compared with nonbarrier conditions. The results indicated that barrier is able to check the advancement of the intrusion significantly and in certain cases, the progress is completely stalled for withdrawals on the landward side. Also, marked variations in the interface profile are observed as compared to no barrier condition, especially, for the seaward freshwater developments. From the model, nearest possible locations from the seacoast have been worked out for the safe withdrawal of freshwater where their effects are negligible on the saltwater advancement. © 2009 ASCE.
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    Tropical, Seasonal River Basin Development through a Series of Vented Dams
    (2011) Shetkar, R.V.; Mahesha, A.
    Tropical rivers are predominantly seasonal in nature, and managing water resources during the deficit period is becoming more difficult because of the rapidly increasing demand for water. The present investigation focuses on harvesting Netravathi River water in the southern Indian peninsula through a series of vented dams with an estimated storage capacity of 102 Mm3 for use during the deficit period. A brief hydraulic design of a vented dam at a specific location is presented. The spacing and capacity of these reservoirs were worked out on the basis of the dam height and the river characteristics. The proposed vented dams are seasonal dams, and the closure of the vents will be decided on the flow available (i.e., 95% dependable flow), the storage capacity, and the minimum water release required for the downstream ecosystem. The appropriate time to start storing water in the vented dams was estimated to be in the month of November, and the entire process of storing water in the vented dams may last for about 41 days. An operational protocol for the storing process is presented. The investigations of aquifer parameters were performed by using electrical resistivity, pumping, and soil tests. The results indicated that the aquifer is shallow, unconfined in nature, and had a depth ranging from 18 to 30 m and hydraulic conductivity ranging from 62.6 to 406 m/day. A multiple regression model developed to assess the groundwater recharge in the adjoining well fields indicated that water table fluctuations may be 30% of reservoir level fluctuations. Because the river is also tidal in nature, a saltwater exclusion dam is proposed at the lower reaches of the river to prevent the entry of saltwater along the river during the summer period. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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    Fuzzy logic modeling for groundwater level forecasting of west coast region in India
    (2011) Dandagala, D.; Deka, P.C.
    Forecasting the groundwater table in unconfined aquifer is essential for efficient planning of conjunctive use in a basin. In this study, fuzzy logic (FL) models have been developed for groundwater level forecasting in west coast humid region of Karnataka state, India. The FL modeling was carried out to forecast the groundwater table by one week lead time at three different sites over the study area. Mamdani fuzzy inference system was adopted in the present study and finally centroid of area defuzzification method has been applied to obtain crisp output. The results concluded that the FL model performed quite satisfactorily as assessed by various performance indices such as Root mean square error, Coefficient of correlation, and Mean absolute error. © 2011 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved.
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    Quantifying aquifer properties and freshwater resource in coastal barriers: A hydrogeophysical approach applied at Sasihithlu (Karnataka state, India)
    (2012) Vouillamoz, J.-M.; Hoareau, J.; Grammare, M.; Caron, D.; Nandagiri, L.; Legchenko, A.
    Many human communities living in coastal areas in Africa and Asia rely on thin freshwater lenses for their domestic supply. Population growth together with change in rainfall patterns and sea level will probably impact these vulnerable groundwater resources. Spatial knowledge of the aquifer properties and creation of a groundwater model are required for achieving a sustainable management of the resource. This paper presents a ready-to-use methodology for estimating the key aquifer properties and the freshwater resource based on the joint use of two non-invasive geophysical tools together with common hydrological measurements.

    We applied the proposed methodology in an unconfined aquifer of a coastal sandy barrier in South-Western India. We jointly used magnetic resonance and transient electromagnetic soundings and we monitored rainfall, groundwater level and groundwater electrical conductivity. The combined interpretation of geophysical and hydrological results allowed estimating the aquifer properties and mapping the freshwater lens. Depending on the location and season, we estimate the freshwater reserve to range between 400 and 700 L m??'2 of surface area (A± 50%). We also estimate the recharge using time lapse geophysical measurements with hydrological monitoring. After a rainy event close to 100% of the rain is reaching the water table, but the net recharge at the end of the monsoon is less than 10% of the rain. Thus, we conclude that a change in rainfall patterns will probably not impact the groundwater resource since most of the rain water recharging the aquifer is flowing towards the sea and the river. However, a change in sea level will impact both the groundwater reserve and net recharge. © Author(s) 2012.
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    Terrain analysis and hydrogeochemical environment of aquifers of the southern west coast of Karnataka, India
    (2012) Honnanagoudar, S.S.; Venkat Reddy, D.; Mahesha, A.
    Dakshina kannada district is situated in peninsular region. The peninsula is composed of geologically ancient rocks of diverse original and most of them have undergone metamorphism. The early Precambrian tonalitic gneisses invaded by granites, granulites and dolerite dykes. Granulites are mostly restricted to areas south of Mangalore. High grade alumina rich (corundum bearing) metamorphic schists have been encountered and younger alkaline intrusive rocks like Aegerine syenites have been reported. There are five rivers and estuaries. Number of lineaments cut across each other and some lineaments are parallel to each other. The Arabian sea class is the largest among other land cover features in the study area. The river/tidal creek land cover appear as long irregular and sinous in outline. Mulki river, Netravati river, Gurupur river at southern terrain. The qualities of groundwater at sandy aquifer are good, lateritic/weathered gneissic rocks it is sweet. © 2012 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY.
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    Parameter estimation and vulnerability assessment of coastal unconfined aquifer to saltwater intrusion
    (2012) Mahesha, A.; Vyshali; Lathashri, U.A.; Ramesh, H.
    The focus of the present work is to characterize a tropical, coastal aquifer and to carry out its vulnerability to saltwater intrusion using hydrogeological parameters. The characterization of the aquifer involves pumping tests, vertical electrical sounding, and water quality analysis carried out at 41 monitoring wells. The area under investigation lies between two tropical, seasonal, tidal rivers, i.e., Pavanje and Gurpur rivers, joining the Arabian on the west coast of India. The aquifer is predominantly shallow and unconfined, having moderate to good groundwater potential with transimissivity and specific yield ranging from 49.2 to 461:4 m2/day and 0.00058 to 0.2805, respectively. The electrical resistivity tests indicated that the thickness of the aquifer ranges from 18 to 30 m. The study also investigates the saltwater affected areas in the region the vertical electrical sounding and water quality analysis. The resistivity results revealed several probable isolated saltwater intruded pockets in the region with resistivity less than 70 Om. From the salinity analysis of water, the locations that are affected during February to May (summer) and throughout the year are identified. The wells that are located close to the coast (< 350 m) and at lower elevations (well bottom < +1 m) were found to be saline throughout the year. Also, wells along the banks of the river show considerable salinity (> 200 ppm) during the summer period from tidal inflow along the rivers. The water samples were also analyzed for chloride to bicarbonate ratios during December to May at all the monitoring wells and were found to be exceeding the allowable limit at several locations. The saltwater vulnerability maps are derived for the area by the index-based method using the hydrogeological parameters. The method was found to be effective while compared to the field observations. The results from the analysis indicate that the aquifer is medium to highly vulnerable to saltwater intrusion at majority of the locations. The impact of projected sea level rise by 0.25 and 0.50 m from the climate change is also assessed on the vulnerability of the region to saltwater intrusion. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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    Ground water potential assessment of Haladi River basin in Westernghat of Udupi district, Karnataka, India
    (2013) Mahadeve Gowda, S.K.; Nagaraj, M.K.
    For a sustainable development of water resources, it is imperative to make a quantitative estimation of the available water resources. It is necessary to maintain the groundwater reservoir in a state of Dynamic equilibrium over a period of time and the water level fluctuations have to be kept within a particular range over the monsoon and non-monsoon seasons. Groundwater is a dynamic system. The total annual replenishable resource is around 43 M ha-m. The development and over-exploitation of groundwater resources have raised the concern and need for judicious and scientific resource management and conservation. Among the two major water resources, surface and ground water, it is the ground water resource, which needs to be managed carefully, especially in drought prone areas. To assess the groundwater potential, a suitable and accurate technique is required for a meaningful and objective analysis. A critical study is carried out on the different methods of estimating the groundwater potential and compared to arrive the most suitable technique for practical utility. In this work, five methods of estimating groundwater recharge were studied viz., 1. Yearly water level fluctuation 2. Ten year average water level fluctuation 3. Fluctuation between the lowest and highest water levels over ten years 4. Relationship between rainfall and recharge Method. The results of this study helps in accurate prediction of groundwater availability, which in turn may avoid groundwater over exploitation and help to restore the eco-systems. © 2013 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY.