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 InsightsRentachintala

Rentachintala Mandal

Palnadu District · 137 observation months
StressModerate ConfidenceCGWB 2024Safe Back to map
Historical Median Depth
1.23 mbgl
Available history / latest 2026-09
Observation Months
137
APWRIMS (AP-GWD)
NASA GW Percentile
5.8
Very Dry
Root-Zone Moisture
0.4
Very Dry
Surface Moisture
0.4
Very Dry
Overall Agreement
Decline despite positive climate balance
Data Completeness
V2
Moderate
Rainfall Context
131 mm
CHIRPS · Sep 2026
Location & Context
Basemap © OpenFreeMap · OSM · official boundary (AWARE, rebuilt)
Fusion Explanation
Measured · APWRIMS
1.23 mbgl
137 observation months
Rainfall / ET context
131 mm
climate balance: Surplus
Modelled nowcast
6.95 m
model P10–P90 4.39–10.02 m · Stress
The measured trend is declining while the climatic water balance is surplus. This is a context mismatch to investigate, not evidence of a specific cause.
This seasongauge rain, soil moisture and storage
APWRIMS · research use
Gauge rain, 1 Jun to 17 Oct 2026−31% against normal

400 mm against a normal of 578 mm · Deficient · 25 rainy days · 3 gauges

Last month: 138 mm against 148 mm.

Measured: AP DES mandal rain gauges via APWRIMS.

Soil moisture, 18 Oct 202617% at 30 cm · usual 86%
  • 5 cm67%
  • 30 cm17%
  • 100 cm26%
  • 150 cm30%

2nd driest of 13 years for this date (range 3 to 100%). A week earlier: 17%.

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

Signals pointing to stress3 of 3 usable
  • Groundwater shortfall flaggedyes
  • Gauge rain 20% or more below normalyes
  • Soil among the driest quarter of years for the dateyes

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 202638 · severely below normal

Weekly since 25 Jun; dashed lines at 40 and 60, the drought manual’s class limits. Cropland is about 70% 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 2025-2026Safe · 23% of the extractable groundwater drawn
  • Irrigation15.1
  • Domestic1.6
  • Industry<0.1

16.7 of 73.9 million m³ a year (bars: share of the extractable resource, figures in million m³). 2024-2025: Safe, 28%.

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

Reservoirs in Palnadu, 19 Oct 2026
  • Nagarjuna Sagar60.2%98.6% a year ago
  • Pulichinthala Project61.9%96.4% a year ago
  • Buggavagu49.1%89% 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 reading8.58 mbelow ground, 9 Sep 2026 · State band 6–20 m
Since May4.73 m deeperpre-monsoon 3.85 m
Against a year ago5.69 m deeper2.89 m then
Stations3wells averaged

Our monthly series ends Aug 2026 at 8.77 m; the State reading is 0.19 m shallower since then. It is shown beside our series, not merged into it, and the model does not use it.

Assembly constituency
Macherla
Parliamentary constituency
Narasaraopet
Revenue division
Gurazala
LGD mandal code
05043
Official area
193.3 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

Rentachintala

Palnadu district · official boundary (AWARE, rebuilt)
No trigger
Step 1 · Trigger 1Not set
Rainfall vs normal−30%400 mm against 572 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)−2.05Extremely 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 Severe35Table 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 Severe17%Usual for the date 86%. This date read Severe in 3 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−0.73Extreme: 8.6 m below ground against a 2.3 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 rainfall1,121.67 mm
Modelled actual ET856.27 mm
Annual rainfall minus actual ET+265.4 mm
Surplus

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
8.55m below ground
2026-09monsoon
018352014201620182020202220242026
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 20268.55
Aug 20268.77
Jul 20262.54
Jun 20262.56
May 20263.85
Apr 20263.00
Mar 20262.81
Feb 20262.88
Jan 20262.04
Dec 20252.28
Nov 20251.80
Oct 20252.07
Sep 20252.55
Aug 20253.03
Jul 20253.21
Jun 20253.53
May 20253.68
Apr 20252.72
Mar 20252.56
Feb 20252.53
Jan 20251.76
Dec 20242.16
Nov 20241.93
Oct 20241.49
Sep 20241.58
Aug 20243.21
Jul 202414.99
Jun 202420.43
May 202426.67
Apr 202427.19
Mar 202429.23
Feb 202420.43
Jan 202413.06
Dec 202317.13
Nov 202311.07
Oct 20236.16
Sep 20236.94
Aug 20236.28
Jul 20235.58
Jun 20234.51
May 20234.07
Apr 20234.30
Mar 20232.73
Feb 20233.08
Jan 20232.70
Dec 20222.98
Nov 20222.49
Oct 20222.18
Sep 20221.99
Aug 20221.34
Jul 20221.33
May 20222.34
Mar 20222.31
Aug 20210.69
Jul 20210.51
May 20211.09
Feb 20210.98
Jan 20210.89
Dec 20200.88
Nov 20200.77
Oct 20200.73
Sep 20200.64
Aug 20200.73
Jul 20200.74
Jun 20200.31
May 20200.80
Apr 20200.31
Mar 20200.92
Feb 20200.91
Jan 20200.98
Dec 20190.48
Nov 20190.66
Oct 20190.67
Sep 20190.60
Aug 20190.64
Jul 20190.95
Jun 20191.51
May 20191.11
Apr 20190.84
Mar 20191.00
Feb 20190.84
Jan 20190.64
Dec 20180.76
Nov 20180.69
Oct 20180.75
Sep 20180.76
Aug 20180.82
Jul 20181.59
Jun 20182.68
May 20181.23
Apr 20180.86
Mar 20180.79
Feb 20180.88
Jan 20189.69
Dec 20170.92
Nov 20170.83
Oct 20170.75
Sep 20170.82
Aug 20170.93
Jul 20171.66
Jun 20171.38
May 20171.38
Apr 20171.00
Mar 20170.96
Feb 20170.82
Jan 20170.88
Dec 20160.84
Nov 20160.80
Oct 20160.87
Sep 20160.48
Aug 20160.30
Jul 20161.73
Jun 20164.56
May 20160.85
Apr 20162.31
Mar 20161.04
Feb 20160.78
Jan 20160.78
Dec 20150.76
Nov 20154.33
Oct 20150.94
Sep 20151.91
Aug 20152.32
Jul 20153.68
Jun 20150.99
May 20151.01
Apr 20150.77
Mar 20150.93
Feb 20150.80
Jan 20150.84
Dec 20140.69
Nov 20140.45
Oct 20140.37
Sep 20140.64
Aug 20140.67
Jul 20141.09
Jun 20146.54
APWRIMS-format monthly observations (m below ground). The dashed extension is the modelled nowcast — 6.95 m, P10–P90 4.39–10.02 m — not a measurement.
Monsoon Cycle · Recharge by Year
pre-monsoon May vs post-monsoon November
Typical monsoon recovery+0.25 mmedian across 10 paired years
Weakest recovery-7.00 min 2023
  1. 2015▼ 3.32 m
  2. 2016▲ 0.05 m
  3. 2017▲ 0.55 m
  4. 2018▲ 0.53 m
  5. 2019▲ 0.45 m
  6. 2020▲ 0.03 m
  7. 2022▼ 0.15 m
  8. 2023▼ 7.00 m
  9. 2024▲ 24.73 m
  10. 2025▲ 1.88 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 · 193.3 km²
Recommended Action
Review the measured history and climate-context mismatch
Field-verify the current groundwater level
Review extraction and cropping context without assuming causation
Confirm with official APWRIMS data before operational use
Action Output
AWARE / APWRIMS Action Output (Preview)
{
  "district_name": "PALNADU",
  "mandal_name": "RENTACHINTALA",
  "status": "Groundwater stress indicator",
  "confidence_label": "Moderate",
  "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