Sustainable Groundwater Management

By Prof. Elango Lakshmanan | IIT Madras

Learners enrolled: 1202 | Exam registration: 37

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Groundwater is a critical resource that sustains ecosystems, supports agriculture, and provides drinking water to billions of people worldwide. It plays a central role in achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those focused on water security. However, rapid groundwater extraction and contamination, potentially exacerbated by climate change, have placed immense pressure on this vital resource. If not properly managed, over-extraction and contamination can result in severe consequences, including declining water tables, saltwater intrusion, and deteriorating water quality. This underscores the urgent need for sustainable groundwater management to ensure long-term water security.

This course offers a comprehensive understanding of groundwater systems, with a strong emphasis on practical approaches to sustainability. Key topics include the impacts of climate change, sustainability indicators, and strategies such as Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), aquifer rejuvenation, and mitigation. Special attention is given to emerging contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), fluoride, and chromium.

Students will also gain an exposure to groundwater modeling techniques for predicting future water availability and assessing climate change impacts. The course further integrates policy frameworks, governance strategies, and community-based approaches essential for effective groundwater conservation in both urban and agricultural contexts. Several case studies conducted by the instructor at various sites will be presented to enrich learning.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Civil Engineering /Water Resources Management/ Mining Engineering / Water Resources Engineering / Environmental Engineering / Geotechnical Engineering / Geology / Applied Geology / Geography / Environmental Science/Engineering / Management

PREREQUISITES: 12^th Std Maths, Physics, Chemistry

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Construction/Geotechnical Companies, Environmental Consultancy Companies, Groundwater Exploration Consultants, EIA Consultants

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Civil Engineering Geography Environmental Sciences Environment Energy, Climate and Sustainability
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	21 Jul 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	28 Jul 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	15 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	02 Nov 2025 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Fundamentals of Groundwater Systems and Their Importance: Role of groundwater as a key resource for water security, a critical resource for climate resilience and sustainability; Global groundwater uses and over-extraction; Its role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Week 2: Groundwater Flow and Aquifer Properties: Basic concepts; groundwater balance; Fundamentals of groundwater movement; Types of aquifers, its storage properties, Case Studies

Week 3: Hydrochemistry and Groundwater Quality: Chemical composition of groundwater; Hydrochemical facies; Interpretation techniques; Contaminants such as: Fluoride, Radionuclide, chromium, etc., and their natural vs. anthropogenic influences on hydro geochemistry; Case studies

Week 4: Groundwater Recharge and Sustainable Aquifer Rejuvenation: Natural recharge mechanisms and their role in groundwater sustainability. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR); Aquifer rejuvenation approaches for overexploited regions; Case studies in arid and semi-arid regions.

Week 5: Groundwater Contamination and Risk Management Sources and mechanisms of groundwater contamination, its transportation through subsurface formations; Organic pollutants and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in groundwater; Advanced tools for monitoring and remediation. Case studies: Strategies for pollution prevention and risk assessment.

Week 6: Saltwater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers: Principle, Causes, and consequences of coastal aquifer dynamics Adaptive management strategies to control SWI; Regional case studies: Managing saltwater intrusion in deltaic and coastal aquifers.

Week 7: Isotopes in Groundwater Studies Introduction to isotope hydrology; Applications in groundwater age dating and recharge estimation. Using isotopic tracers to identify contamination sources and aquifer connectivity. Case studies: Isotope hydrology in sustainable groundwater management

Week 8: Groundwater Modeling for Sustainable Management Overview of groundwater models: Conceptual, analytical, and numerical. Introduction to FEFLOW and its applications in groundwater resource planning. Predictive modeling for contaminant transport and SWI management. Case studies: Using models to assess groundwater sustainability under climate change.

Week 9: Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions and Ecosystem Services Interdependence of groundwater and surface water systems; Groundwater’s role in sustaining wetlands, rivers, and biodiversity. Groundwater-dependent ecosystems and conservation strategies. Case studies

Week 10: Urban and Agricultural Groundwater Management Challenges of groundwater use in urban settings. Sustainable groundwater use in agriculture; Community based groundwater conservation initiatives Case studies: Groundwater sustainability solutions in rural and urban environments.

Week 11: Governance, Policy, and Institutional Frameworks Legal and regulatory aspects of groundwater management. Water rights, groundwater ownership, and policy challenges. Global case studies: Successful policy interventions for groundwater sustainability.

Week 12: Future Challenges and Innovations in Groundwater Management : Climate change impacts on groundwater availability and quality. Innovations in groundwater conservation and governance. Formulating policy, and community participation for long-term solutions. Case study discussions and the future of sustainable groundwater management.

Books and references

Fetter C W and Kreamer D ( 2022) Applied Hydrogeology, Waveland Pr Inc
Todd D.K (2000) Groundwater Hydrology, John Wiley and Sons.
Chandra S. P. Ojha, Rao Y. Surampalli, András Bárdossy, Tian C., Chih-Ming (Eds) (2017) Sustainable Water Resources Management, American Society of Civil Engineers, Virginia 20191-4382.
Clark, Ian D and Peter Fritz (1997) Environmental Isotopes in Hydrogeology. CRC Press
Acharya, D. (2021) Water and Public Policy in India: Politics, Rights, and Governance. Routledge
Saha, D, Marwaha, S and Mukherjee, A. (2017) Clean and Sustainable Groundwater in India.Springer Hydrogeology

Instructor bio

Prof. Elango Lakshmanan

IIT Madras

Prof. Elango Lakshmanan has been actively engaged in teaching and research in the broad field of groundwater hydrology since 1986. He has held several leadership roles in international scientific bodies: Vice President (2014–2019) of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences; Co-President (2022–2024) of the International Commission on Water Quality under IAHS; Vice President (2012–2019) of the Indian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists; and President (2010–2015) of the Association of Global Groundwater Scientists. He coordinated a major capacity-building initiative funded by the World Bank under the National Hydrology Project, training over 350 scientists and engineers from various State Water Resources Departments. He has organised four international workshops sponsored by UNESCO’s International Hydrology Programme, benefiting researchers from the Asian region. Prof. Lakshmanan has successfully led nine international research projects supported by prestigious organisations, including the European Commission, the British Geological Survey, the Australian Research Council, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Department of Science and Technology, and the University Grants Commission. In addition, he has executed 26 national research projects with a cumulative funding of ₹18 crores, sponsored by MHRD, CSIR, UGC, DST, BRNS, SERB, MoES, and DoS. Prof. Elango Lakshmanan’s work has contributed to the sustainable groundwater management across India’s diverse aquifer systems. His research integrates advanced numerical modelling techniques to simulate groundwater flow and pollutant transport, supporting long-term aquifer viability. He has extensively studied managed aquifer recharge strategies to rejuvenate overexploited water sources, particularly in semi-arid and urban regions. His investigations include risk assessments of contaminants such as fluoride, uranium, and heavy metals. He has employed innovative tools like fuzzy logic and Monte Carlo simulations to forecast groundwater quality and associated health risks. His studies have addressed seawater intrusion in coastal zones and evaluated the impacts of climate change on groundwater resources. His work on urban water systems, especially in Chennai, demonstrates how rainwater harvesting can boost groundwater levels substantially. Through numerous peer-reviewed publications, leadership in national and international projects, and impactful capacity-building efforts, Prof. Lakshmanan has contributed to developing science-based approaches for protecting and conserving groundwater resources in India and similar hydrogeological settings worldwide.

Expert lectures: Besides the course instructor, the following subject experts have delivered lectures on different aspects of Sustainable Groundwater Management.

Dr. R. D. Deshpande, Former Chairman, Geosciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India
Title of the lecture: Applications of isotopic techniques in groundwater hydrology

Prof. Ahmed S. Elshall, Department of Bioengineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Florida Gulf Coast University, USA
Title of the lecture: Interaction of science and policy for sustainable groundwater management

Prof. Brindha Karthikeyan, Department of Water Resources and Ecosystems, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, The Netherlands
Title of the lecture: Integrated water resources management – Concepts, challenges, and opportunities

Dr. Paul Pavelic, Senior Researcher – Hydrogeology, International Water Management Institute, Lao PDR
Title of the lecture: Impact assessment of MAR structures

Prof. P. Sakthivel, The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, India
Title of the lecture: Groundwater governance, regulations, and law

Dr. M. Senthilkumar, Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Govt. of India, Chennai, India
Title of the lecture: Sustainable groundwater management initiatives in India

Prof. S. Srinivasan, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
Title of the lecture: Participatory approaches in water management

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: November 02, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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