Assessment of groundwater salinity risk in coastal belt of Odisha using ordinary kriging and its management

Groundwater has a great influence on the very existence of human being in the context of rapid urbanization, population growth, and changing climate. Groundwater irrigation has an important role in food security. However, with time its quality is deteriorating all over the world. Especially in the coastal aquifers, salinity level of groundwater is increasing day by day, creating a negative impact on crop productivity, which further enhances social and economic conflicts. In this study, as assessment has been carried out to know the spatial variation of groundwater salinity in the coastal belt of Odisha consisting of Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Khordha, Nayagarh, and Puri districts using ordinary kriging. The average groundwater level during premonsoon varied from 2.70 to 5.35 m, with a mean value as 4.04 m. Similarly during postmonsoon, the groundwater level varied between 1.73 and 4.56 m. The rise in groundwater level by 0.81 m during postmonsoon season for the whole study area indicates groundwater recharge during rainy season. The spherical model was observed to be the best-fit model for the groundwater salinity. The electrical conductivity values ranged from 0.06 to 3.77 dS/m in the study area. More than 98% of the study area is having groundwater salinity level ranged medium to high, indicating need of proper management of groundwater, so as to sustain the crop productivity.