Geostatistical Analysis of Spatial Variations of Groundwater Level using GIS in Banaskantha District, Gujarat, India

Groundwater is the main resource of water in Banaskantha district, which fulfills the daily needs of the people. The surface water resources of Banaskantha district are very limited. Economy of the district is basically dependent on agriculture and dairy farming, which has increased the exploitation of groundwater. The Geostatistical analysis shows the variation in water level below ground level (bgl) from 2010 to 2016. Ordinary kriging, the most widely used geostatistical method has been used to depict the groundwater surface map of the last seven years of the district to study and analyse the spatial variability of groundwater levels. Groundwater levels recorded in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons has been used to generate groundwater surface maps and trend graphs in GIS environment. The district has semi-arid climate which has the characteristic features of extreme temperature and erratic rainfall. Ephemeral nature of the rivers flowing through the district and the economy dependency of the district on agriculture and dairy farming are the major factors of over exploitation of ground water which results in the fast depletion of this resource.