Groundwater is one of the most valuable natural resources supporting human health, economic development, and ecological diversity. Because of its several inherent qualities and the relative ease and flexibility with which it can be tapped, it has been used as and considered a reliable and safe source of water supplies in all climatic regions of developed and developing countries. Unfortunately, groundwater management is a serious problem in many parts of the world because of over exploitation and unabated pollution of this vital resource, and the prime concern is how to ensure sustainable groundwater utilization.

In India, groundwater accounts for more than 60% of irrigation water, 85% of rural drinking water, and 50% of urban water. In spite of favorable national scenario on the availability of groundwater, there are several areas of the country that face water scarcity due to intensive groundwater exploitation.  The experiences in the field of water management in India have shown that unbalanced use and mismanagement of water resources have either lowered groundwater levels or caused waterlogging and salinity in different parts of the country. Particularly in the canal-dominated regions of North India, there has been an increase in groundwater levels due to seepage from the canals leading to the problems of waterlogging and salinity in many canal commands of the country. Excessive groundwater exploitation on the other hand has led to alarming decreases in groundwater levels in several parts of the country such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu etc. In recent studies, the analysis of GRACE satellite data revealed that the groundwater reserves in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana are being depleted at an alarming rate. The depletion of groundwater resources has increased the cost of pumping, caused seawater intrusion in coastal areas and has raised questions about sustainable groundwater supply as well as environmental sustainability. Therefore, efficient and judicious utilization of groundwater resources is essential as part of a sustainable water management strategy.

The Groundwater Management program of the institute aims to solve problems related to groundwater utilisation in agriculture in the country. The key areas of research are groundwater recharge, groundwater modelling, groundwater pollution, conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater, solute transport study, groundwater management in coastal aquifers, groundwater utilisation using micro-irrigation, water-energy-nexus, and groundwater assessment using advanced space technologies.

• A groundwater flow simulation model has been developed for a coastal aquifer in Eastern India.
• A Simulation-optimisation model has been developed for the maximisation of groundwater pumping and develop land and water management strategy in a well command of eastern India.
• An artificial neural network model has been developed for groundwater level forecasting in a coastal aquifer of eastern India.
• Optimisation model has been developed for developing a conjunctive water use plan in the Brahmani River basin of Eastern India.
• Design of groundwater recharge structures for hard rock regions has been standardised.
• Management strategy for coastal aquifers has been developed which includes pumping options.
• Groundwater recharge potential zoning has been done for the Baitarani River basin. 
• Assessment of groundwater contamination due to excess fertiliser application has been done in the lower Godavari basin of Andhra Pradesh, Purnea district in the Gangetic alluvium of North Bihar Plain and Bathinda district of Punjab. It was found that groundwater contamination was within permissible limits for drinking purposes.
• Alternate wetting and drying-based irrigation strategy for paddy crops to alleviate groundwater nitrate pollution in shallow water table regions have been developed.
• Solar drip irrigation-based multi-tier cropping system to optimise resource use efficiency has been developed.
• Water-saving technology involving drip irrigation and mulching in pre-bearing mango orchards for water-scarce degraded regions of Eastern India has been developed.

• Modelling of water and nitrogen dynamics in paddy fields for assessment of groundwater pollution in shallow groundwater table regions.
• Evaluation of drip irrigated multi-tier cropping system for enhancing land and water productivity
• Impact of land use/land cover on groundwater storage in the Baitarani River basin
• Study of seawater intrusion dynamics and development of management strategy in a coastal aquifer of eastern India.
• Water management and production practices of dragon fruit under protected cultivation. 
• Socio-economic evaluation of solar irrigation and its impact on farmer’s livelihood in Eastern India

• Evaluation of climate change impact on groundwater resources and development of management strategies for resilient agriculture in India (NICRA Project)
• Improving groundwater sustainability through analyzing groundwater-energy nexus (Agri-CRP on Water Project- Theme IV).