Impact of Urbanization on Water Resources-A Case Study of Ooty

With increasing urbanization, both the quantity and quality of water is affected. This study attempts to assess the influence of urbanization especially changing land-use patterns on the water quality and quantity in Ooty town of Nilgiris district, Tamilnadu, India. The study area is a rapidly urbanizing region with land development progressing at a fast pace. To study the impact of this rapid urbanization and overall land-use transition, groundwater quality parameters are checked and spatial maps are prepared within geographical information system (GIS) using ArcGIS software. Land use maps indicate that the forest area is reducing and is replaced by industries and houses. The Spearman's rank correlation analyses confirmed the change of water quality is impacted by land-use changes. Correlation analysis was carried out using SPSS software. Forest land shows negative correlation with all parameters except pH, which thereby shows that the concentration of other parameters decreases with increase in the forest area. Residential area has positive correlation with all parameters except pH this indicates that increase in residential area will increase the concentration of the water quality parameters beyond the permissible limit. Questionnaire survey was conducted to know about the socio-economic status of the people. Results from this study contribute to a better understanding of not only the impact of historical land use changes on water quality, but also provides appropriate information for effective management of urban growth in the future.