Switch thirsty crops, water by drip
Where most water goes to fields, moving from paddy and sugarcane to millets, pulses or maize, and from flood to drip or sprinkler irrigation, saves more than any recharge can add.
Groundwater level in Chittoor
55%Safe
Groundwater use is within safe limits here. That is the 2025 stage of groundwater extraction: water pumped out in a year as a share of what rain and other sources safely put back. Down 4 points since 2017.
435 million m³pumped out each year (2025)
789 million m³can be taken out safely each year
Noneno yearly shortfall
87%goes to irrigation; the rest to homes and industry
Extraction since 2009
Each point is one CGWB assessment. Over-exploited means more water leaves the ground than comes back, so the water table keeps falling. Hover over or tap a point to see why it moved.
Safe · up to 70%Semi-critical · 70–90%Critical · 90–100%Over-exploited · above 100%
Show the numbers
| Year | Stage | Pumped out | Safe limit | Category | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 75.0% | 1.2 billion m³ | 1.5 billion m³ | Semi-critical | First assessment in this series. |
| 2013 | 71.0% | 1.2 billion m³ | 1.6 billion m³ | Semi-critical | Pumping up 1% (1.2 → 1.2 billion m³). Safe limit up 7% (1.5 → 1.6 billion m³). Main reason: more water soaked back into the ground, from better rain, canals or recharge structures. |
| 2017 | 58.9% | 1.0 billion m³ | 1.8 billion m³ | Safe | Pumping down 11% (1.2 → 1.0 billion m³). Safe limit up 8% (1.6 → 1.8 billion m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for homes and industry (172 → 96 million m³). CGWB changed its method in 2017 (GEC-97 to GEC-2015), so part of this change comes from the new method. |
| 2020 | 60.1% | 787 million m³ | 1.3 billion m³ | Safe | Pumping down 25% (1.0 → 0.8 billion m³). Safe limit down 26% (1.8 → 1.3 billion m³). |
| 2022 | 56.5% | 507 million m³ | 897 million m³ | Safe | Pumping down 36% (787 → 507 million m³). Safe limit down 32% (1.3 → 0.9 billion m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (699 → 452 million m³). A swing this large usually comes partly from revised estimates (a new well count or changed district boundaries), not only from changes on the ground. |
| 2023 | 56.1% | 497 million m³ | 885 million m³ | Safe | Pumping down 2% (507 → 497 million m³). Safe limit down 1% (897 → 885 million m³). |
| 2024 | 59.3% | 509 million m³ | 859 million m³ | Safe | Pumping up 2% (497 → 509 million m³). Safe limit down 3% (885 → 859 million m³). Main reason: less water soaked back in, from weaker rain, less canal seepage or more paved ground. |
| 2025 | 55.2% | 435 million m³ | 789 million m³ | Safe | Pumping down 15% (509 → 435 million m³). Safe limit down 8% (859 → 789 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (453 → 378 million m³). |
Million m³: 1 million m³ = 100 crore litres. 2009 and 2013 used the older GEC-97 method.
Loading 20 years of rainfall…
What will fix it here
Groundwater here is in balance. Keeping it that way means recharging as the area builds up and paves over.
Revive village ponds and johads
Desilting old ponds and opening their feeder channels restores natural recharge. A one-hectare pond that soaks in a metre of water over the monsoon puts back about a crore litres.
Rooftop rainwater recharge
Pipe roof water through a silt trap and filter into a recharge pit or an old borewell. Every 100 m² of roof puts back tens of thousands of litres a year, right where the pumping happens.
Recharge pits and shafts in open land
Parks, campuses, warehouse yards and road sides can take recharge shafts that reach past the clay layer, so runoff that floods streets goes down to the aquifer instead.
Check dams and contour trenches
On sloping or rocky land, small dams on seasonal streams and trenches along contours slow water down long enough for it to sink in.
Treat and reuse wastewater
Treated water from a sewage treatment plant can run flushing, gardens, cooling towers and construction, which today often draw on borewells.
Frequently asked questions
What is the groundwater level in Chittoor?
In the 2025 Central Ground Water Board assessment, Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) pumped out 55% of the groundwater that can be safely taken out each year, which puts it in the "safe" category. That is 4 points lower than in 2017.
Is groundwater in Chittoor over-exploited?
No. At 55% of the safe yield, Chittoor is safe, though recharge is still needed as demand grows.
How can groundwater be recharged in Chittoor?
Rooftop rainwater harvesting into recharge pits or old borewells, recharge shafts in open land, reviving ponds, check dams, treating and reusing wastewater, and moving farms to drip irrigation and less thirsty crops.
Other districts in Andhra Pradesh
Sri Sathya Sai57%Prakasam50%Visakhapatnam44%Annamayya39%Y.S.R Kadapa38%Palnadu38%Srikakulam36%Tirupati36%Ntr36%Ananthapuramu35%Eluru35%Krishna32%Anakapalli31%Kurnool31%Vizianagaram27%Bapatla26%Parvathipuram Manyam25%Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore24%Guntur21%Kakinada17%Nandyal13%Konaseema11%West Godavari9.9%Alluri Sitharama Raju4.3%