From Amitangshu Acharya, Arghyam, Bangalore
Posted 14 May 2010
I work with Arghyam in Bangalore. For the past three years, we have engaged with organizations with expertise in implementing participatory ground water management (PGWM) projects in 3 states in the country. These organizations have worked with local communities to adopt participatory approaches to groundwater management. The lessons and experiences emerging from these programme areas have been very insightful and fascinating. These are captured in the document, An Approach for Participatory Groundwater Management (ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/res-15051001.doc).
However, there is a need to broad-base such institutional leanings beyond the projects. This process started when Dr K. A. S. Mani, then with the Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems (APFAMGS), initiated a discussion on the need for a Paradigm Shift in Groundwater Management on the Water Community (You can view the consolidated reply at http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr/cr-se-wes-food-12030801.pdf) and followed it with an action group.
Realising the importance of groundwater governance in the country, the Water Community initiated a series of discussions at its Annual Fora in Bangalore in 2008 and Kolkata in 2009. To follow up on this, in September 2009, Arghyam convened a brainstorming session involving Dr Mani, Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni of Pune-based Advanced Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM) and Dr. Yogesh Jadeja from Kachchh-based Arid Communities and Technologies (ACT). The meeting highlighted the need to document the processes and resources required for an approach to PGWM. We drafted the above document based on these discussions and it was discussed informally at the Water Community meeting in Kolkata in October 2009.
Subsequently, the Water Community’s resource team and I met Dr. P S Rao from the Food and Agriculture Organization in Delhi, who suggested incorporating a desk review of the existing legal framework on groundwater management. This would pinpoint the institutional and legal challenges in the way of scaling up PGWM.
The purpose of this approach is to assist organizations (NGOs, international and national donors, and the government) to initiate and scale up PGWM. We envisage it to be a flexible and practical set of suggested activities for PGWM. The document can also be used for assessing/monitoring large projects on groundwater development initiated by the government. The approach is sensitive to the geographic, cultural and hydrologic diversity of India. However, to develop it further, we require your inputs on the draft. Kindly read the document and the earlier discussion on this issue. We request your inputs and suggestions specifically on the following and generally on the entire document:
- The principles of PGWM listed on Page 5
- The PGWM components are broken down into social, institutional, scientific and communication & advocacy. Are most components needed? Also, within each area already listed, is there a need to incorporate any other essential activities?
- Are there any existing desk reviews of the legal framework of groundwater management?
- How do we modify this approach for conjunctive use of water for irrigation within a hydrological unit?
We will incorporate your comments into the document and set up a core group to work on it. Once this is complete, we will hold a consultative workshop with all stakeholders concerned with groundwater to finalise the approach suggested in the document.
Please see attachment below for the responses.