Southeast India experienced several extreme precipitation events during November and early December 2015, which resulted in heavy flooding over Tamilnadu and Puducherry. Kanchipuram was one of the worst affected districts of Tamilnadu. The devastating floods that hit Kanchipuram during November/December 2015 caused serious damage to property and loss of human life. This study focuses on rain gauge data from 13 stations in Kanchipuram. The results show that there were multiple heavy precipitation events during the second week of November and the first week of December that resulted in record‐breaking heavy runoff over Kanchipuram, causing severe flooding over the region. The extremely heavy precipitation over Kanchipuram occurred in multiple spells: 7–9 November, 15–17 November and 1/2 December 2015. Tambram station recorded a maximum rainfall value of about 494 mm on 2 December. Peak rainfall amounts of about 329 and 316 mm were also recorded over Tambram and Panankattucheri on 16 and 9 November, respectively. It was found that multi‐day heavy precipitation events during November and December caused heavy flooding over Kanchipuram.

This study focuses on examination of variability in the depth to water below ground level (bgl) from 1996 to 2016 in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, India in changing climate. Spatial variability of groundwater depth was mapped and classified as shallow, normal, deep and moderate using GIS modeling. Groundwater decline rates during successive decades were examined and critical areas with a significant fall in groundwater levels (GWL) were detected. Present study also focuses on examination of block-wise variability of GWL. Ground water level shows significant variability during 1996-2016 at confidence level 95%. The long term ground water level fluctuation indicates that water levels in major parts of the study area have declined drastically. The depth to ground water in major parts of the study area ranges between 6 and 15 m bgl except in Parner and Shrirampur blocks. Furthermore, depth to water level is >15 mbgl over Sangamner block during the drought year 2004. Present study reports a significant decadal increase of about 0.7 m in water leval decline over the study area. Groundwater depletion over the study area has been observed with decrease in groundwater recharge and increase in temperature and urbanization. Groundwater depletion shows coherent variability with temperature. Our results report a significant decrease of about 0.61 cm/year in ground water recharge as a result of decrease in precipitation and a decadal increase of about 0.1 • C in temperature over the study area. Evapotranspiration (ET) shows yearly increasing trend of about 9.6 mm over the study area. Results reported in this study highlight the importance of sustainable groundwater resource management over the study area.

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