Section 2(10) in State Water Resources Regulatory Authority (Guidelines on Selection of Water Sources and for, ensuring availability of Water for the Water Supply Irrigation Systems) Regulations, 2018
(10)Least or no possibilities of damage by heavy moving objects and other hazards.(j)Groundwater Sources : Numerous simple preventive measures shall be applied to protect springs, wells and aquifers from contamination. They are expressed in the following five steps :-Step 1. Site selection of the water source be never close to pollutant sources.Step 2. Construction of spring and well protection.Step 3. Fencing.Step 4. Set up rules for all community members to observe.Step 5. Management, operation and maintenance in the right perspective.The tapping of ground water in a specified location as well as spacing and yield in a well-field should be so phased that the annual recharge and discharge of the aquifer are almost balanced without causing an overdraft in the area. As the loose/porous ground increases after development, problems of well-field management will become dangerously critical in many places and the studies on optimum well spacing will be required in order to minimize mutual interference in between pumped wells.(k)Springs : Springs are formed due to the eruption of groundwater on to the surface. Till the ground water emerges out on the surface as a spring, it carries minerals acquired from the subsoil layers. Spring waters from shallow strata are more likely to be affected by surface pollutants than deep-seated waters. Springs may be either perennial or intermittent. The discharge of a spring depends on the nature and size of catchment, recharge and leakage through the sub-surface. Usefulness of springs as sources of water supply depends on the discharge and its variation from time to time during the year. Every scheme shall be conceived only after taking all such factors into account.Irrigation Sector :(i)Surface Water : Water from rivers and streams is generally more variable in quality and less satisfactory than water from lakes and confined reservoirs. The quality of water depends upon the character and area of the watershed, its geology and topography, the extent and nature of development by mass etc. The quantity of water available at the source must be sufficient to meet various demands and requirements of the area of supply/Culturable Command Area (CCA) for the entire irrigation period. The natural and man-made pollution results in producing colour, turbidity, hardness, bacteria and other microorganisms in the water supplies that need to be taken into consideration while selecting the source.(ii)A correct assessment of the capacity of the source is required to be investigated to decide on its dependability for the Scheme in question. The incidence and the intensity of rainfall, the run-off from a given catchment and the actual gauged flows in streams are the main factors in estimating the safe yield from any source. Reliable statistics on the rainfall over representative regions of the catchment area, recorded through the past 25 years, should be collected, wherever available. In order to cover deficiencies in such data, it is desirable that rainfall recording stations are set up in all water sheds as part of the basic minimum infrastructure requirement.(iii)Use of River Gauging Data : (a) Wherever river gauging data for at least 8 years is available, the minimum and maximum discharge likely once in a 30 years period may be statistically arrived at and adopted. A 100 years period may be used, if the data available is for a minimum of 25 years.(b)Where such data is lacking, the following other methods may be adopted in the order of preference :
