Overdrafting definition
Overdrafting means that groundwater withdrawals tend to exceed the annual replenishment via groundwater recharge, the excess being accounted for by a permanent reduction in the volume of groundwater stock underneath – it is in this sense that over-exploitation of groundwater is described as ‘groundwater mining’. The manifestation of groundwater overdraft is lowering of water table. In economics of groundwater irrigation, permanent recession in groundwater table raises both the capital and operating costs of well irrigation. Overexploitation of groundwater may also lead to serious consequences in certain situations. If decline in water table in a tract continues unabated, the rising cost of groundwater irrigation may prove inadequate to arrest the process of decline in water table. In coastal areas groundwater quality may also be damaged due to intrusion of saline water from the neighbourhood.
Examples of Overdrafting in a sentence
Over-drafting of the Chicot Aquifer can cause inland movement of salt water.