Mehsana district in north Gujarat is located within the latitudes 23⁰ 02íN to 24⁰ 09íN and longitudes 71⁰ 26íE to 72⁰ 51íE. The district owes its name to the town of Mehsana founded by Mahesaji or Masaji - a ruler of Chavada dynasty in 12th/13th century AD. Table 1 gives geographical and agricultural information about the project area. The region is rich in agricultural production but is largely dependent on groundwater, both for irrigation and drinking water requirements. During the last decade, large scale exploitation of groundwater for irrigation has led to fall in groundwater table at a rate of approximately 3m/yr, though groundwater mining condition have now been

there for the last two decades. As a result, residents of the region face the following problems:

1. Fluorides and other dissolved salts in drinking water have shown progressively increasing trend and have exceeded the safe limit since almost two decades now.
2. Chemical quantity of groundwater is also showing adverse impact on soil fertility and crop growth.
3. With progressive decline of groundwater table, more electric power is required to lift the same quantity of water.
4. The process of deterioration of groundwater quality continues unabated and progressively increasing proportion of the population is seen to be affected by fluorosis.

In the present area, with groundwater as the primary source for drinking and irrigation, it is necessary that all aspects related to the problem be fully investigated and a quantitative appraisal made to help long term planning. To make a comprehensive review of this multifaceted problem, Water Resources Research Foundation (WRRF), approached the Habitat and Environment Committee (HEC) of the Habitat International Coalition (HIC) with the present project proposal. Following is a report of the investigations, largely based on study of published and unpublished reports with various departments of the Govt. of Gujarat and in the research journals.

The groundwater development in the region can be sub-divided in three phases

1. Pre-1935 phase: Grounwater at shallow depth (5-10m) and obtained from dug wells by Bullock and manual lift of water.
1. 1935-1955 Phase: Groundwater levels declined to 10-30m and dug-cum-bore wells become prevalent and diesel pump sets were used for lifting the water.
1. Post 1955 Phase: Groundwater levels began to decline rapidly and from sixties the decline has been between 1-3m every year. Deep tubewells fitted with electric motors have been used to lift groundwater from 100-250m depth.

The deterioration in groundwater quality almost parallels the post 1955 phase, when with the advent of tubewells and electric motors the groundwater extraction went up many folds. Gradually, the soil fertility was being affected by irrigation with high TDS groundwater and several native crops disappeared. Presently, cash crops of bajari, cotton and jowar are grown in the region.

The Geological Survey of India carried out groundwater investigations in the Mehsana area as early as 1953-54. At the time of this investigation tubewell development in Mehsana district was in its initial phases. In 1969, the need for artificial groundwater recharge through wells by rainwater or water from other suitable sources to augment the natural infiltration and to improve the quality of groundwater was already being discussed.