Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 90 (7): 1359–61, July 2020/Short Communication https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v90i7.105623 Field evaluation of abandoned open well for recharging surplus canal water ALOK GUPTA*, RAJAN AGGARWAL and SAMANPREET KAUR ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110 012, India Received: 01 October 2019; Accepted: 14 October 2019 Key words: Abandoned well, Canal water, Groundwater recharge, TSS Punjab is predominantly an agricultural state and about 70% of irrigation demand is fulflled by groundwater. Consequently, the water table is declining. Recent studies conducted by CGWB and Water Resources and Environment Directorate, Punjab have concluded that if the present rate of extraction continues, the available ground water resources will exhaust within 20 to 25 years.Paddy and wheat are the major crops of Punjab covering 75 and 87 % of cultivable area whose water requirement is very high. During the last decade, there has been evident increase in extreme rainfall events and the fndings of the climate change support increased winter rainfall. Fundamentally, wheat requires 4 to 6 irrigations in growing season. However, the reception of desired amount of rainfall at suitable timing during rabi season may reduce this requirement to one or two irrigations only. The state has a good canal network, so at these times, farmers do not consume their canal water share. As a result, canal water drained back to river without any benefcial use. However, this surplus canal water can be used to recharge groundwater.The abandoned wells that have gone dry due to continuous lowering of water table can be used for groundwater recharging the surplus canal water, with little cost and minor land modifcations on the farm.Keeping in view the discussion, present study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of abandoned open well for groundwater recharge using canal water on long term basis. Location of abandoned well This study was conducted at the Research Farm, Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana in 2017. Geographically, Ludhiana is situated in Indo Gangetic basin where subsurface formation comprises of sand, silt, clay and khanker in different proportion. Water table depth varies between 4.32 to 31.22 m below ground surface before the onset of monsoon and remains within 2.89 to 27.30 m after the monsoon season. Analysis of the long- term water table data shows thatthe water table is declining at a rate of 0.11 to 1.34 m/year in the region.Average annual rainfall of Ludhiana district is 681 mm, (CGWB 2013) 78% of which is contributed by south west monsoon between *Corresponding author e-mail: alok3600c@gmail.com June to September and rest 22% is received in non monsoon period due to western disturbences. In general unconfned aquifer occur in this region. Selection of abandoned well was based on its nearness to canal and availability of aquifer with good hydraulic parameters. Initially, the well was flled with agricultural waste like paddy straw. After removing the flled up waste material, top few centimeters thick sand layer of aquifer is also removed. The dimensions of open well are presented in (Fig 1). The open well was covered with iron grill for safety. The inner surface of abandoned open well chosen for study was lined up to aquifer bed. Recharging through well A 10.16 cm size PVC pipe of length 7.11 m was used to convey water from water course (getting it supply from main canal) to the recharging site. A water meter was installed at a distance of 3 m from the open well to monitor the volume of water recharged through it. To restrict the entry of tree leaves and other organic matter into water meter, a net of suitable mesh size was fxed at the entry of water into pipe. Water level 7.36 m 26.6 m Ground surface 1.82 m Fig 1 Dimensions of open well 143