Availability and Utilization of Water Resources in Noa-Nadi River Basin, Assam

Abstract

Water has always been considered as the most essential renewable resource which can sustain various forms of life on the planet earth, the whole production system and thereby guide the economic prosperity. By providing the facilities of irrigation, navigation, hydropower generation, fish production, recreation etc., both the surface and ground water have now become the bases of human development and also one of the most manageable natural resources. But on account of its uneven spatio-temporal distribution and increasing rate of use, presently, crisis arises towards its proper management. The Noa-Nadi Basin with a total catchment area of 745 km2 is an important north bank river system of the Brahmaputra basin. With assured heavy monsoonal rainfall in the upper hilly reach, the entire sub-basin is very rich in water resources. The entire basin is a broad hydrological unit of Quaternary alluvium of unconsolidated sediments. The ground water occurs in regionally extensive aquifers down to a depth of 300 m and has a good yield prospect for drinking purpose and also to a very limited extent for irrigation. This paper is an attempt for to analysis the availability and utilization of water resources of Noa-Nadi river basin which will help for future planning and management the riverine landscape.