AP Water Intelligence
Andhra Pradesh Groundwater Assessment

Mandal Insights

APWRIMS-format readings fused with NASA/NDMC GRACE-DA satellite-model signals.

Prototype. Prototype results do not replace official field measurements or APWRIMS outputs.
OverviewMandal InsightsRacherla

Racherla Mandal

Markapuram District · 137 observation months
StressLimited ConfidenceCGWB 2024Not assessed Back to map
Historical Median Depth
25.81 mbgl
Available history / latest 2026-09
Observation Months
137
APWRIMS (AP-GWD)
NASA GW Percentile
7.5
Very Dry
Root-Zone Moisture
0.9
Very Dry
Surface Moisture
0.4
Very Dry
Overall Agreement
Decline without positive climate balance
Data Completeness
V2
Limited
Rainfall Context
120.4 mm
CHIRPS · Sep 2026
Location & Context
Basemap © OpenFreeMap · OSM · official boundary (AWARE, rebuilt)
Fusion Explanation
Measured · APWRIMS
25.81 mbgl
137 observation months
Rainfall / ET context
120.4 mm
climate balance: Balanced
Modelled nowcast
36.93 m
model P10–P90 32.63–41.36 m · Stress
The measured trend is declining without a positive climatic water balance (Balanced). Climate balance remains context and is not direct recharge.
This seasongauge rain, soil moisture and storage
APWRIMS · research use
Gauge rain, 1 Jun to 17 Oct 2026−36% against normal

269 mm against a normal of 421 mm · Deficient · 18 rainy days · 6 gauges

Last month: 76 mm against 80 mm.

Measured: AP DES mandal rain gauges via APWRIMS.

Soil moisture, 18 Oct 202641% at 30 cm · usual 72%
  • 5 cm91%
  • 30 cm41%
  • 100 cm51%
  • 150 cm55%

5th driest of 13 years for this date (range 24 to 100%). A week earlier: 33%.

Modelled: NRSC VIC land-surface model via APWRIMS; plant-available water as a share of what the soil holds.

Signals pointing to stress2 of 3 usable
  • Groundwater shortfall flaggedyes
  • Gauge rain 20% or more below normalyes
  • Soil among the driest quarter of years for the dateno

A count of stated tests, not a score. The soil model is driven by rainfall, so those two are not independent.

Crop vegetation, 17 Sep to 14 Oct 202623 · severely below normal

Weekly since 25 Jun; dashed lines at 40 and 60, the drought manual’s class limits. Cropland is about 38% of this mandal's land.

Satellite index: NOAA STAR VHP, 4 km weekly, weighted to cropland (ESA WorldCover 2021). Plant vigour against the same weeks in other years, not yield.

Groundwater assessment 2025-2026Critical · 96% of the extractable groundwater drawn
  • Irrigation13.7
  • Domestic0.8

14.5 of 15.1 million m³ a year (bars: share of the extractable resource, figures in million m³).

Official: CGWB and the AP State Ground Water Department, GEC-2015 method, via INGRES; unit Racherla.

Reservoirs in Markapuram, 19 Oct 2026
  • Pula Subbaiah Veligonda Project?%?% a year ago
  • Cum Bum Tank25%54.9% a year ago
  • Mopadu Reservoir Project0%13.4% a year ago

Storage at the dam, measured. Whether its canals reach this mandal needs the command-area map, which is not public.

Compare across the state
The State network’s latest reading
AWARE groundwater feed · one reading, not a monthly mean
Latest reading41.25 mbelow ground, 9 Sep 2026 · State band >20 m
Since May12.02 m deeperpre-monsoon 29.23 m
Against a year ago17.37 m deeper23.88 m then
Stations2wells averaged

Our monthly series ends Aug 2026 at 38.72 m; the State reading is 2.53 m deeper since then. It is shown beside our series, not merged into it, and the model does not use it.

Assembly constituency
Giddalur
Parliamentary constituency
Ongole
Revenue division
Markapur
LGD mandal code
05132
Official area
262.2 km²
Outline drawn
official boundary (AWARE, rebuilt)

AP AWARE groundwater feed (groundwater_aggregatedreadings_api) via the AI Living Labs data lake. Readings 1 Sep–9 Sep 2026.

Every constituency
Drought manual checkKharif 2026 · rain to 11 Oct 2026
steps 1–2 · not a declaration

Racherla

Markapuram district · official boundary (AWARE, rebuilt)
No trigger
Step 1 · Trigger 1Not set
Rainfall vs normal−35%267 mm against 412 mm · Deficient. Table 3.1 (IMD): normal +19 to −19%, deficient −20 to −59%, large deficient −60 to −99%, no rain −100%. Measured: AP DES gauges via APWRIMS.
Longest dry spell3 wk3.2.1 B: consecutive weeks after the monsoon's due onset with under 50% of the week's normal; usually 4 weeks, 3 on light soils.
1 Jundashed line: half of normal11 Oct
SPI route (satellite)−1.99Severely dry; would set Trigger 1 on its own route. 3.2.1 C: SPI below −1 is a deficit; below −1.5 sets Trigger 1 without a dry spell. CHIRPS v3 since 1981.
Trigger 1 not set: deficient, but no dry spell and not large-deficient. Table 3.11: a dry spell sets Trigger 1. Without one, only large-deficient rainfall (or SPI below −1.5) does.
Step 2 · Trigger 2 · 3 of 3 indicatorsSevere (not reached)
Remote sensing · VCI Severe22Table 3.4: VCI 60–100 normal, 40–60 moderate, 0–40 severe. NOAA STAR VHP, 4 km, last four weeks. Satellite index over all vegetation; coarser than the manual prefers.
Soil moisture · PASM Severe34%Usual for the date 72%. This date read Severe in 4 of 12 earlier years. Table 3.6 (2020): PASM 76–100 no drought, 51–75 moderate, 0–50 severe. The State may recalibrate. Modelled: NRSC VIC at 30 cm via APWRIMS, four-week mean.
Hydrology · GWDI Severe−0.47Severe: 41.3 m below ground against a 22.0 m mean for the month, 12 years. Table 3.9: GWDI above −0.15 normal, to −0.30 mild, to −0.45 moderate, to −0.60 severe, below extreme. Measured: APWRIMS wells.
Agriculture · area sown n/a—Not published per mandal: the Agriculture department holds it. 3.2.3.1: sown area under 85% of normal is drought; 75% or less is severe.
3.3.1 Step 2: severe if two of three are severe and the third at least moderate; moderate if two are moderate or worse.
Step 3 · the State
No field verification is called for unless Trigger 2 is set.
Every mandal on the Drought Watch
Aquifer Water Balancerainfall minus actual ET
TerraClimate 2025
Annual rainfall1,006.5 mm
Modelled actual ET821.4 mm
Annual rainfall minus actual ET+185.1 mm
Balanced

Rainfall minus modelled actual ET is climatic context, not crop water requirement, groundwater recharge, pumping or safe yield.

TerraClimate 2025 annual actual ET vs rainfall (~4 km, modeled). Not groundwater depth or a field irrigation instruction.
Measured History · APWRIMS-format
2014-06 – 2026-09
41.33m below ground
2026-09monsoon
030602014201620182020202220242026
Measured (APWRIMS) Modelled nowcast · p10–p90 Monsoon (Jun–Sep)Depth increases downward — a higher fill is a shallower water table.
Show the numbers
Depth to water by month, metres below ground (APWRIMS)
MonthDepth (m)
Sep 202641.33
Aug 202638.72
Jul 202637.48
Jun 202630.90
May 202629.23
Apr 202620.52
Mar 202617.39
Feb 202611.62
Jan 20268.40
Dec 20257.18
Nov 20257.13
Oct 202514.70
Sep 202520.79
Aug 202525.20
Jul 202535.53
Jun 202538.06
May 202537.08
Apr 202533.55
Mar 202532.75
Feb 202527.68
Jan 202525.81
Dec 202412.30
Nov 202415.34
Oct 202425.14
Sep 202431.96
Aug 202438.40
Jul 202437.80
Jun 202436.77
May 202436.15
Apr 202434.40
Mar 202427.61
Feb 202426.62
Jan 202425.43
Dec 202315.69
Nov 202317.70
Oct 202319.94
Sep 202318.70
Aug 202323.50
Jul 202323.95
Jun 202315.19
May 202336.88
Apr 202314.18
Mar 20239.79
Feb 20237.87
Jan 20237.67
Dec 20226.74
Nov 20227.16
Oct 20226.75
Sep 20226.80
Aug 20227.70
Jul 202211.30
May 202212.32
Mar 202211.30
Aug 20219.45
Jul 202110.65
May 202110.32
Feb 20217.74
Jan 20217.25
Dec 20206.10
Nov 20205.95
Oct 202034.35
Sep 202011.15
Aug 202034.34
Jul 202034.40
Jun 202036.14
May 202028.65
Apr 202036.14
Mar 202034.14
Feb 202029.86
Jan 202018.49
Dec 201915.85
Nov 201913.88
Oct 201918.68
Sep 201929.20
Aug 201933.64
Jul 201949.37
Jun 201951.64
May 201951.07
Apr 201951.67
Mar 201950.00
Feb 201949.72
Jan 201946.18
Dec 201842.34
Nov 201835.77
Oct 201831.00
Sep 201839.51
Aug 201838.12
Jul 201840.03
Jun 201837.42
May 201837.33
Apr 201841.66
Mar 201843.89
Feb 201838.80
Jan 201822.86
Dec 201728.87
Nov 201728.12
Oct 20175.47
Sep 201717.81
Aug 201723.49
Jul 201738.05
Jun 201738.64
May 201744.93
Apr 201744.92
Mar 201744.58
Feb 201743.83
Jan 201739.08
Dec 201634.74
Nov 201633.00
Oct 201627.25
Sep 201629.46
Aug 201635.41
Jul 201641.40
Jun 201642.77
May 201639.84
Apr 201640.34
Mar 201640.31
Feb 201640.31
Jan 20166.74
Dec 20155.81
Nov 20156.88
Oct 20157.51
Sep 20158.53
Aug 201511.26
Jul 201511.18
Jun 201510.72
May 201510.04
Apr 20154.64
Mar 20154.45
Feb 20157.95
Jan 20157.37
Dec 20146.58
Nov 20146.28
Oct 20149.74
Sep 20149.03
Aug 20149.02
Jul 20148.29
Jun 20147.43
APWRIMS-format monthly observations (m below ground). The dashed extension is the modelled nowcast — 36.93 m, P10–P90 32.63–41.36 m — not a measurement.
Monsoon Cycle · Recharge by Year
pre-monsoon May vs post-monsoon November
Typical monsoon recovery+17.99 mmedian across 10 paired years
Weakest recovery+1.55 min 2018
  1. 2015▲ 3.16 m
  2. 2016▲ 6.84 m
  3. 2017▲ 16.81 m
  4. 2018▲ 1.55 m
  5. 2019▲ 37.19 m
  6. 2020▲ 22.70 m
  7. 2022▲ 5.16 m
  8. 2023▲ 19.18 m
  9. 2024▲ 20.81 m
  10. 2025▲ 29.96 m
Pre-monsoon (May) — the annual low Post-monsoon (Nov) — after rechargeRecovery is the metres the water table rose over the monsoon. A short bar is a monsoon that did not refill the aquifer.
Derived from the measured APWRIMS-format history, not modelled. Years without both a May and a November reading are omitted rather than interpolated.
Data Quality & Freshness
Observation records137
Latest observation period2026-09
Satellite sample—
Measured labelAPWRIMS (AP-GWD)
Boundarypublic_prototype
137 observation months; modelled.
Data Sources
Measured Input · APWRIMS
APWRIMS mandal reading (2014-2026)
NASA Satellite-Model (GRACE-DA)
Real percentiles 0–100 · —
CHIRPS Rainfall Context
Monthly areal average · not direct measured recharge
Boundary Source
The State's outline (AWARE), rebuilt from its points · 262.2 km²
Recommended Action
Collect an additional field observation before interpretation
Review the APWRIMS-format observation history
Reassess once the authorised APWRIMS export arrives
Do not treat as official until the APWRIMS export is authorised
Action Output
AWARE / APWRIMS Action Output (Preview)
{
  "district_name": "MARKAPURAM",
  "mandal_name": "RACHERLA",
  "status": "Groundwater stress indicator",
  "confidence_label": "Limited",
  "recommended_action": "Review the measured history and field-verify conditions.",
  "source_caveat": "Unreleased preview; field verification and official schema required."
}
Prototype InsightAPWRIMS reading + real NASA satellite-model percentileNot official until the APWRIMS export is authorised · official boundary (AWARE, rebuilt)Go to watchlist