Groundwater Recharge, Monitoring and Finding Suitable Areas for Groundwater Recharge in Northeast Thailand

Groundwater is one of the most important natural resources but unsustainably uses for agriculture in Thailand. Groundwater accounts for available freshwater bodies and it becomes a major freshwater resource. It can be defined as precipitation that has infiltrated the soil surface and collected in soil and aquifer underground. It is the principal water source of domestic, industrial, and agricultural purposes. Serious groundwater shortage is experiencing especially in Northeast of Thailand because groundwater usage is higher than the recharged amount. Currently, groundwater resources are facing two major challenges such as overexploitation and contamination. Overexploitation is caused by the overdraft usage of groundwater resources and contamination is caused by the pollution caused by industrial, agricultural, and other human activities and the salinization and waterlogging caused by improper way to discharge wastewater, inadequate drainage system and insufficient conjunctive use. Groundwater recharge becomes an important matter not only because of previously stated facing major issues but also it is the primary resource of fresh water for drinking and irrigating crops, also in Northeastern of Thailand. This chapter will discuss about the basic knowledge of groundwater, groundwater recharge process, and groundwater monitoring and current methodologies applied in groundwater recharge in Northeast of Thailand.