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 Kolara
184%Over-exploited
This area pumps out 1.8 times the water that rain puts back. 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 27 points since 2017.
609 million m³pumped out each year (2025)
330 million m³can be taken out safely each year
279 million m³yearly shortfall drawn from stored water
93%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 | 181.0% | 526 million m³ | 291 million m³ | Over-exploited | First assessment in this series. |
| 2013 | 190.0% | 624 million m³ | 328 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping up 18% (526 → 624 million m³). Safe limit up 12% (291 → 328 million m³). Main reason: more water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (494 → 589 million m³). |
| 2017 | 211.3% | 835 million m³ | 395 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping up 34% (624 → 835 million m³). Safe limit up 21% (328 → 395 million m³). Main reason: more water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (589 → 788 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. CGWB changed its method in 2017 (GEC-97 to GEC-2015), so part of this change comes from the new method. |
| 2020 | 200.0% | 799 million m³ | 400 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping down 4% (835 → 799 million m³). Safe limit up 1% (395 → 400 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (788 → 754 million m³). |
| 2022 | 181.8% | 703 million m³ | 387 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping down 12% (799 → 703 million m³). Safe limit down 3% (400 → 387 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (754 → 662 million m³). |
| 2023 | 172.8% | 707 million m³ | 409 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping up 1% (703 → 707 million m³). Safe limit up 6% (387 → 409 million m³). Main reason: more water soaked back into the ground, from better rain, canals or recharge structures. |
| 2024 | 193.3% | 717 million m³ | 371 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping up 1% (707 → 717 million m³). Safe limit down 9% (409 → 371 million m³). Main reason: less water soaked back in, from weaker rain, less canal seepage or more paved ground. |
| 2025 | 184.4% | 609 million m³ | 330 million m³ | Over-exploited | Pumping down 15% (717 → 609 million m³). Safe limit down 11% (371 → 330 million m³). Main reason: less water was pumped out, mostly for irrigation (674 → 565 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 Kolara
1,187 of 1,304 water bodies (91%) 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 Kolara…
- Ponds326
- Tanks857
- Lakes28
- Reservoirs15
- Check dams and percolation tanks1
- Others77
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 Kolara?
In the 2025 Central Ground Water Board assessment, Kolara (Karnataka) pumped out 184% of the groundwater that can be safely taken out each year, which puts it in the "over-exploited" category. That is 27 points lower than in 2017.
Is groundwater in Kolara over-exploited?
Yes. Kolara takes out more groundwater than rain and other sources put back, so the water table keeps falling.
How can groundwater be recharged in Kolara?
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 Kolara?
The first Census of Water Bodies counted 1,304 water bodies in Kolara, including 326 ponds. 1,187 of them were not in use.
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