Examining groundwater sustainability through influential floods in the Indus Plain, Pakistan

摘要

Abstract Rapid changes in climate have resulted in occurrence of extreme flood events the impacts of which have rarely been studied on the underlying aquifer highly vulnerable to overexploitation of groundwater for agriculture and urban use in the Indus Basin. In the present study, groundwater response to major floods occurred during 2010 and 2014 was studied in eight vulnerable districts of the Punjab province, Pakistan through integration of geographic information system and remote sensing techniques. The findings of the study revealed high influence of those floods in controlling the watertable behavior of the underlying aquifer and even stabilizing the groundwater levels in the study area. During pre-flood 2010 condition, the groundwater levels indicated decline at rates ranging between 0.16 and 0.51?m per annum, while in post-flood 2010 period, they exhibited rise at rates within range of 0.03–0.39?m per annum in different districts. The?