Land Cover Change and Its Impact on Groundwater Resources: Findings and Recommendations

Abstract

Globally, the climate is becoming drier and wetter because of climate change. Variations in land use and land cover (LULC) brought on by humans have impacted hydrological elements, including recharge and runoff, throughout the past few decades. Agriculture, forestry, urbanization, recreational activities, and industrialization are all land uses that impact groundwater resources. For example, anthropogenic activities have an increased impact on impervious surfaces and storm drains, which divert precipitation away from highways. Similarly, groundwater resources are negatively impacted by the increased urbanization of areas in two fundamental ways: first, by blocking up aquifers with concrete, which prevents natural recharge; second, by polluting groundwater through drainage leaks and industrial waste and effluents. Therefore, the long-term temporal and seasonal variations in LULC change significantly impact groundwater flow dynamics. Numerous factors influence LULC change, including hard-to-follow social and biophysical processes, that ultimately lead to a complex and dynamic system. As a result, an evaluation of the effects of LULC changes on recharge is required to manage groundwater resources to be sustainable.