Assessment of variation in water table of Quetta valley of 2010 & 2020

Abstract

Groundwater has always been and continues to be an essential source of drinking water in Balochistan. Which is extracted from tube wells. Since the 1970s, the number of tube wells has increased from 5,000 to 40,000. The rapid increase in the number of drillings has caused the water table to drop hundreds of feet deep. So, Assessment of water level variability of aquifers is an important step to explore the appropriate groundwater management. Therefore, this study is designed to assess the variation in water table of Quetta valley of 2010 & 20. This research is done on the basis of statistical analysis using computer based software (ArcGIS and Microsoft office) to detect the change in groundwater level. An overall characterization method has been used on the water table of Quetta valley. The analysis was conducted using groundwater level data from 132 tubewell monitoring sites in Quetta valley of 2010 & 2020. The average water level of tube wells in 2010 was 281 feet while in 2020 it was 372 feet. Both mean values are included in the standard deviation. Where, it turns out that the difference between the two data sets is 64 feet. Maps and graphs were also evaluated by comparing the observed values of groundwater levels of 2010 & 2020. This analysis demonstrates the water table variation of Quetta valley of 2010 & 2020.