Network design for groundwater monitoring : a case study

The applicability and usefulness of Geostatistics (kriging) as a tool for optimum selection of sites for monitoring groundwater levels has been demonstrated through a case study. The criterion used is the estimatio- n of error variance. Groundwater level data (pre-monsoon 1994) obtained from 32 observation wells of Upper Kongal basin, Nalgonda District, A.P. (India) has been stochastically analyzed. The spatial distribution of water levels and its associated error variance is computed and the locations having maximum error variance are selected as additional sites for augmenting the existing observational well network.