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 Coimbatore
92%Critical
Almost every drop that rain puts back is being pumped out. 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 30 points since 2017.
517 million m³pumped out each year (2025)
563 million m³can be taken out safely each year
Noneno yearly shortfall
94%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 | 84.0% | 421 million m³ | 501 million m³ | Semi-critical | First assessment in this series. |
| 2013 | 95.0% | 429 million m³ | 450 million m³ | Critical | Pumping up 2% (421 → 429 million m³). Safe limit down 10% (501 → 450 million m³). Main reason: less water soaked back in, from weaker rain, less canal seepage or more paved ground. |
| 2017 | 121.8% | – | – | Over-exploited | CGWB changed its method in 2017 (GEC-97 to GEC-2015), so part of this change comes from the new method. |
| 2020 | 113.0% | 496 million m³ | 439 million m³ | Over-exploited | Down 9 points since 2017. |
| 2022 | 84.5% | 429 million m³ | 507 million m³ | Semi-critical | Pumping down 14% (496 → 429 million m³). Safe limit up 16% (439 → 507 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (447 → 392 million m³). |
| 2023 | 89.0% | 460 million m³ | 516 million m³ | Semi-critical | Pumping up 7% (429 → 460 million m³). Safe limit up 2% (507 → 516 million m³). Main reason: more water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (392 → 425 million m³). |
| 2024 | 86.7% | 472 million m³ | 544 million m³ | Semi-critical | Pumping up 3% (460 → 472 million m³). Safe limit up 5% (516 → 544 million m³). |
| 2025 | 91.8% | 517 million m³ | 563 million m³ | Critical | Pumping up 10% (472 → 517 million m³). Safe limit up 3% (544 → 563 million m³). Main reason: more water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (451 → 485 million m³). |
Million m³: 1 million m³ = 100 crore litres. 2009 and 2013 used the older GEC-97 method.
Loading 20 years of rainfall…
Ponds and lakes in Coimbatore
801 of 939 water bodies (85%) are not in use: dried up, silted, built over or polluted. Bringing them back is one of the cheapest ways to recharge groundwater.
Loading the map of water bodies in Coimbatore…
- Ponds615
- Tanks42
- Lakes37
- Reservoirs6
- Check dams and percolation tanks228
- Others11
Source: 1st Census of Water Bodies, Ministry of Jal Shakti (counted in 2018-19, published 2023).
What will fix it here
Most of the water here goes to farming, so using less on fields matters as much as recharge.
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.
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.
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 Coimbatore?
In the 2025 Central Ground Water Board assessment, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) pumped out 92% of the groundwater that can be safely taken out each year, which puts it in the "critical" category. That is 30 points lower than in 2017.
Is groundwater in Coimbatore over-exploited?
Not yet, but it is critical: 92% of the safe yield is already used.
How can groundwater be recharged in Coimbatore?
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.
How many ponds and lakes are there in Coimbatore?
The first Census of Water Bodies counted 939 water bodies in Coimbatore, including 615 ponds. 801 of them were not in use.
Other districts in Tamil Nadu
Salem148%Tirupathur143%Vellore122%Chennai122%Dindigul117%Mayiladuthurai117%Namakkal116%Perambalur106%Karur103%Thanjavur101%Krishnagiri92%Dharmapuri90%Tiruvannamalai86%Tiruppur86%Villupuram85%Tiruchirappalli85%Ranipet85%Theni84%Kallakurichchi81%Erode77%Tenkasi76%Madurai70%Virudhunagar64%Chengalpattu64%Cuddalore63%Tiruvallur55%Thiruvarur54%Pudukkottai49%Kancheepuram49%Ariyalur48%Tirunelveli41%Thoothukudi28%Sivagangai26%Kanniyakumari14%The Nilgiris13%Ramanathapuram11%Nagapattinam0.0%