Integrated District-level Water Quality and Scarcity Estimates for India

Pulling together publicly available data collected and distributed by the government of India as well as a satellite-derived dataset from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, our team has generated a single district-level Geographic Information System (GIS) shapefile which allows for visualization and queries of 226 water quality and scarcity related variables processed at the district level in India. The file type allows visualization and analysis on most GIS software platforms. The district shapefile for India integrates information from multiple datasets in different spatial formats. Its groundwater quality parameters are drawn from a network of monitoring points (typically water supply wells). Its groundwater utilization parameters correspond to district-level polygon summaries of values collected at local Indian administrative units (Blocks/Mandals/Taluks). Its aquifer properties are drawn from aquifer formation boundaries which are also represented as polygons. And its precipitation and surface water extent information are collected as gridded data. Source data were compiled at the district level for production of the shapefile, and are publicly available for download below along with detailed metadata descriptions. Download source data (zip file)