India stands first in the world in terms of groundwater use followed by China and the USA. However day by day, the groundwater level is depleting in an alarming rate all over the country. The Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh is one of such regions, where groundwater depletion is a major problem and attributed to both natural and anthropogenic causes. In this study the spatial variation of groundwater was mapped for the year 2018 in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, India, which is located in the Rayalaseema region. The groundwater level varied from 2.0 to 69.96 m with a mean value of 18.52 m during pre-monsoon, and during post-monsoon the depth of groundwater ranged between 1.15 m and 68.37 m with a mean value of 17.63 m. With respect to groundwater development, one-third of the mandals has reached the critical or overexploited stage. The overall stage of groundwater development was observed to be more than 80% in the study area, indicating heavy withdrawal of water from the aquifer. Mandals like Agali, Peddapappur, Rolla, Tadimarri, and Yellanur showed the level of groundwater development even more than 150%. In the study area, the mandals in which groundwater is at critical stage are Madakasira, Parigi, Penukonda, Raptadu, and Roddam. Therefore water conservation and groundwater recharge techniques may be executed, and awareness about judicious use of water may be created to avoid further depletion of aquifer in the district.
