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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Sustainable groundwater management in northwestern and west-central Bangladesh: Variability, human impacts, and food security implications

Shafiul Chowdhury1* ,  Lawrence McGlinn2
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1 Department of Geology and Environmental Science, School of Science and Engineering, State University of New York-New Paltz, New York, United States of America
2 Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, State University of New York-New Paltz, New York, United States of America
AJWEP, 025400312 https://doi.org/10.36922/AJWEP025400312
Received: 4 October 2025 | Revised: 6 November 2025 | Accepted: 7 November 2025 | Published online: 24 December 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Groundwater in Bangladesh exhibits significant spatial and temporal variability, driven by monsoon recharge, lithologic heterogeneity, and human extraction. Integrating long-term monitoring data with recent field and Geographic Information Systems analyses (2021–2023), this study quantifies groundwater responses across northwestern and west-central Bangladesh. Seasonal drawdowns in solar irrigation pump (SIP) wells averaged 4.38 ± 1.74 m, followed by full post-monsoon recovery, confirming a recharge–discharge balance. The Theis analytical model, applied with a pumping rate of 2,500 m3/day (representing the upper operational range of SIPs), an average aquifer material transmissivity of 1,800 m2/day, and a storage coefficient of 0.1, predicted maximum drawdowns of 0.68 m at a distance of 10 m from the pumping wells—well below the 5 m critical threshold for maintaining domestic water-supply sustainability. Data also reveal that transmissivity and storage coefficients vary by up to two orders of magnitude among physiographic regions, emphasizing the need for site-specific management. The relatively high transmissivity and storage coefficients of the aquifer materials enable the functioning of the Bengal Water Machine, in which irrigation-induced recharge enhances groundwater storage and helps maintain stable water levels. By applying the United States Geological Survey’s safe-yield concept alongside the Mandel–Shiftan sustainability framework, this study demonstrates that current SIP groundwater withdrawals remain well within sustainable limits. These findings support regionally adaptive groundwater governance that aligns pumping rates with recharge capacity. Such alignment is essential for maintaining irrigation viability and food security under changing climatic and hydrologic conditions. Overall, the results emphasize the importance of region-specific management strategies rather than generalized depletion narratives.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Groundwater
Aquifer recharge
Safe-yield framework
Bengal Water Machine
Solar irrigation pumps
Food security
Funding
This study was funded by the Global Center on Adaptation, South Asia Division (grant number: GCA-PR-24-612).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing
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