ABSTRACT
Agriculture, domestic, and industries are the three major consumers of water. The ever-increasing demand for freshwater for all these sectors has made its availability dwindle day by day Unscientific management of the available freshwater resources further aggravates the freshwater availability With surface water having been put to use and reached its peak of utilization, attention has already been turned toward abstracting groundwater sources and in many regions of the world, groundwater has been exploited to full availability resulting in depletion in its level. Thus, groundwater recharge estimation has assumed global importance, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions as part of the sustainable management of groundwater sources. Groundwater is recharged naturally by rain and to a lesser extent by surface water bodies like rivers and streams. For sustainable groundwater resource management, quantification of groundwater recharge is pivotal and a prerequisite. Hydrologists and hydrogeologists over the years have developed many methods and techniques for the estimation of groundwater recharge. Several approaches are employed to quantify groundwater recharge from precipitation and from other sources. The most commonly used methods are direct measurements water balance including the hydrograph method and the tracer methods. Each method has its own advantages as well as limitations.
