Measurement of vertical recharge to groundwater in Haryana State (India) using tritium tracer

Abstract

Downward movement of soil moisture due to rainfall and supplemental irrigation in the unsaturated zonf has been followed by tagging a layer of soil with tritiated water at a number of sites in the state of Haryana. The activity apparently moves by a piston type flow. The average recharge for 15 sites during the interval July - November, 1973 has been equivalent to 9 cm of water which is 14% of the irrigation plus rainfall. For 18 sites sampled after two monsoons (July 1973 to December 1974) the average recharge is 19 cm and the fractional recharge is 0.15. Wide variations in recharge values are noted. The most significant factor affecting the fractional recharge is the clay content of the soil.