reconciling environment and economics - irade

Reconciling Environment and Economics:

Executive Summaries of EERC Projects

Chairperson - EERC and

Editor Jyoti K. Parikh

Assistant Editor

T.L. Raghu Ram

Environmental Economics Research Committee (EERC)

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Sponsored by

Ministry of Environment and Forests The World Bank

CITATION: Jyoti K Parikh and T.L. Raghu Ram eds. (2003). Reconciling Environment and

Economics: Executive Summaries of EERC Projects. Environmental Economics Research Committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forests implemented, World Bank aided “India: Environmental Management Capacity Building (EMCaB) Project. Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

WATER INSTITUTIONS ANDSUSTAINABLE USE

Environmental Degradation: Market, Policy andInstitutional Failure

V Ratna Reddy Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad

Introduction

Water resource management is crucial forfood and ecological security. In fact, livelihoodsecurity is critically linked with water security.Water security means that people andcommunities have reliable and adequate accessto water to meet their different needs, are ableto take advantage of the different opportunitiesthat water resources present, are protected fromwater related hazards, and have fair recoursewhere conflicts over water arise. Water securityis indispensable for addressing inter and intraregional inequalities as well as inter householdinequalities in growth and development, and insustaining the ecological balance. Despite theimportance water assumes in overall humandevelopment, i t is the most mismanagedresource, especially in the context of developingcountries like India. Neglect of this importantresource has resulted in environmentaldegradation of enormous proportions. Thepresent study is an attempt to understand theenvironmental aspects of water resources.Though limited to the state of Andhra Pradesh,the study reflects the reality in many parts of theworld. This study is an attempt to synthesise theproblem based on our analysis, from threeimportant perspectives i.e., market, institutionaland pol icy fai lures. This would help inunderstanding the problem from differentdimensions. The existence and use of water indifferent forms makes it imperative to examinethe different facets of the resource. While it isbeyond the scope of the present study to coverall the forms and uses of water resources, it dealswith three important aspects of water resourcesmanagement with a focus on environmentaldegradation. These include groundwater, surfacewater and water quality management. The studynarrates the context of managing these threeaspects of water resources that have led toenvironmental degradation, threatening thelivelihood security of the local communities.

Objectives and approach

This study is an attempt to address theenvironmental consequences of water, mainlyirrigation management practices in AndhraPradesh with respect to the above trends. Someof the important aspects in this regard include:viability of irrigation practices in the context ofland fragmentation and anthropogenic pressure;changes in the pol icy response to thedegradation of water resources due tomismanagement; and the costs of waterpollution/scarcity to the rural economies.Besides, the relevance of the recent legislationregarding water user associations is criticallyreviewed. Specific attempts are made to gaininsights regarding the state of water resourcesand the role of markets, institutions and policyin the case of this particular resource.

The specific objectives of the study are to:

· Evolve/develop an integrated approach onmarket and institutional failures in the contextof natural resource degradation.

· Examine the macro policy perspective ofwater resource management at the state leveland i ts implications for environmentaldegradation and water scarcity/pollution.

· Critically evaluate the water user associationlegislation brought in by the state in the lightof environmental problems faced by thecommand areas.

· Explore the possibilit ies for integratinginstitutional and market aspects in waterresource management and suggest policyoptions for sustainable water resourcemanagement.

Methodology

This study is carried out at both theoreticalas well as empirical levels. For the purpose of

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empirical analysis, data is drawn from bothsecondary and primary sources. Specifically,state budget expenditure is analysed for the pastseven years to examine the trends in irrigationexpenditure in the context of recent irrigationreforms. Besides, data is also drawn fromsources like season and crop reports, statisticalabstracts, etc. The primary data is collected fromdifferent locations (villages) that are experiencingthe above said environmental problems. Thesample villages represent diverse environmentswith regard to socio-economic, cultural andenvironmental aspects, as well as communitypractices and market mechanisms. Further, thefunctioning of water user associations isevaluated based on field visits to a number ofsites.

Sites

Specifically, f ive vil lages from twodistricts are selected for the purpose of intensiveanalysis. These districts are Warangal andMedak. The groundwater region is representedby Warangal district, while Medak represents theproblem areas related to water pollution due toindustrialisation. Warangal district has recordedthe maximum number of cotton farmer suicidesmainly due to well failure, while Medak districthas some of the industrial zones that areassociated with the worst impact on rurallivelihoods. The sample villages are selectedpurposively to examine the existing watermanagement practices. Two vi l lagesrepresenting well irrigation / groundwater scarcity- one representing well and tank irrigationlinkages, and another village pertaining to waterpollution, are selected. Both Participatory RuralAppraisal (PRA) methods and survey methodsare used as complements in order to get betterinsights into the problem. PRA methods wereused to identify various resources and water usepractices at the vi l lage level to get theperceptions of the villagers/users regardingresource use and management practices. Surveymethods are used to elicit the quantitativeinformation on household features and theireconomic activities.

Results

Status of water resources

The present status and trends in irrigationdevelopment in the state can be betterunderstood in the macro policy framework. Theattitude, philosophy and ideology of the policymakers are crucial in determining thedevelopment path. The core philosophy of thepolicy makers dealing with water has notchanged despite the process of reforms for adecade. The philosophy of water resourcemanagement continues to be largely supply sideand neglects demand side management. Thesupply side approach aims at supplying bulkwater at any cost to meet the demand for irrigableland through development of new supply sourceswith l i t t le attention to charging the pricecorresponding to cost. In this approach, theemphasis is more on developing new sources ofwater. On the other hand, the demand sideapproach stresses making water available toeach individual farmer through improved watermanagement. This is possible through reducingthe wastage in water, adoption of technologiesthat would increase water use efficiency, etc.Pricing of water is one of the most effectivedemand management variables. Effective pricingpolicies are found to result in conservation andefficient use of water in diverse situations.Hitherto efficiencies were improved throughsupply regulation in the supply side managementby creating scarcity conditions. This however, isonly likely to make those farmers already inreceipt of irrigation supplies, operate more

Fig. 1: Location of the sample villages

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efficiently and would do nothing for others whomay have already been waiting many years forsupply. Besides, resource (financial) constraintswould further aggravate supply regulation, andhence shortages. The spiralling effect of thiswould result in acute shortages, as it happenedin the case of drinking water. The implicationsof such macro policies (supply side and biasedtowards major irrigation) at the micro level areexamined with respect to surface water, groundwater and water pollution.

Ground water

Groundwater, the single most importantsource of irrigation, is totally left out of thepurview of the water user association legislation.There are no efforts to integrate well and tankirrigation. While water user associations arefound to be effective in the canal commands, theyare not serving the purpose in the case of tankirrigation, though 80 percent of the associationsare for tanks. Unless the needs of these regionsare identified and addressed effectively, fragileresource regions will face irreversible ecologicalproblems like desertification.

The first victims in the process (Table 1) aresmall and marginal farmers. Both direct andindirect costs of degradation are more in the caseof small and marginal farmers, especially indegraded environments. The costs ofdegradation range from Rs.1,300 to Rs.44,000per acre among marginal farmers as thedegradation of groundwater aggravates. Theimpact of resource degradation on these farmersoccurs in two ways. Firstly, while small andmarginal farmers dominate the ownership ofwells in general and open wells in particular,medium and large farmers dominate theownership of bore wells. As a result ofdegradation, a majority of these farmers losetheir access to water. They are denied theirgenuine share in the common pool resource.Secondly, one of the interesting observations ofour study is that of late, bore well technology isbecoming cheaper, making it size (owned land)neutral, though the process may be slow. As aresult, these farmers are also investingsubstantial amounts of money on bore wells.Such investments become unviable in the eventof well failure.

Table 1: Total Costs (direct and indirect) ofGroundwater Degradation (Rs./acre)

Village/ Costs due to groundwater degradation Total costs

Size class Direct Indirect (Rupees per acre)

Vanaparthy 2744 605 3349

Large Farmers 1782 580 2362

Medium Farmers 4667 1056 5723

Small Farmers 5354 1020 6374

Marginal Farmers 1259 120 1379

Teegaram 3831 1708 5539





Vaddicherla 13159 1910 15069





Unfortunately, there are no policies so far thataddress the equity and management aspects ofgroundwater. Though there are regulations ongroundwater exploitation, these are inadequateand ineffective. Even the proposed new policiesare on the lines of regulation rather thandesigning innovative policies that would integratemarket and institutional dimensions of resourcemanagement. This calls for a shift in the policyfrom supply side management to demand sidemanagement, from populism to economics, fromconvenience to efficiency, from engineering toinsti tut ions, from central isation todecentralisation, and from a fractured approachto an integrated approach. Water policies shouldaim at integrating all sources of water in theregional context rather than treating them inisolation. Demand management is equally, if notmore important, especially in the context ofscarce resources, as the supplies are limited.Demand management helps in efficient andsustainable use of the resource when comparedto supply regulation.

Surface water

In a pioneering and unprecedented effort, theGovernment of Andhra Pradesh has initiatedirrigation reforms on a large scale. In fact, thesereforms are ranked very high even at the globallevel, and expected to be a future model in

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irrigation management. The state has shown thatpolitical will is the main ingredient for suchinitiatives. The most interesting feature of thesereforms is that they are �top down� with a �bottomup� approach. It has the advantage of greaterreach (possible under �top down�) and intensitythrough involvement of the community (possibleunder �bottom up�). These reforms under theguidance of some committed officials at the statelevel, have taken off in good spirit and receivedgood support at the farmer level. Though onemay argue that flow of funds is the main factorin generating such response, it is necessary tosupport the ailing systems in order to generatetrust among beneficiaries. Over the years,farmers have lost the trust in the government andare in no position to respond to false promises.Therefore, the initial boost is necessary to regainthe lost credibility and build the trust. Once thisis in place, institutional reforms from the topbecome smooth and easier. But it is necessaryto understand the direction in which the reformsare progressing. This direction would ultimatelydetermine the strength and sustainability of thereforms.

Water quality (Pollution)

The impact of industrial pollution on ruralcommunities is quite substantial in monetaryterms alone (Table 2). The costs of damage areas high as Rs.19,000 per household. The costsof damage would be much higher if social costssuch as alienation of the village (marriages,social visits, etc) by others were accounted for.Similarly, the real impact on health, economicas well as psychological, is difficult to assess.While there is a possibility of over-estimating thedamages on the part of respondents, we stronglybelieve that these would be more if social costswere to be valued. Moreover, the losses due topermanent disability to the chief breadwinner ofa household are rather difficult to assess. In thisregard, it is difficult to assess the problem in pureeconomic terms of valuation of losses. Hence,the solution to solving the problem lies not incompensating the loss, but in removing theproblem altogether. Here, compensation meansgiving the right to the polluter to pollute . Lookingat the health impact in the present case, noamount of compensation would suffice toaddress the problem.

Table 2: Total Loss per Household per Annumin Kazipalle Village (Rs.)

Loss on health 3799

Loss on livestock 815

Loss on agriculture 14615

Total 19229

The role of civil society is also not satisfactoryin the present case. Protests in front of the StateSecretariat in the form of both dharna (masssquatting) and rastha roko (blocking roads), onlyresulted in lathi charge and arrests of thevillagers and NGOs. Neither the industries northe PCB responded to the protests. Peopleturned aggressive and attacked the industries.Since then, the industries stopped dischargingtheir effluents into the tank during the daytime.Twice, the villagers caught persons dischargingthe effluent into the village tank at night and beatthem up severely. After that incident, theindustries were closed for three to four days, butstarted again as usual. Despite all these actions,the community did not succeed in influencingeither industries or regulatory authorities. Finally,the villagers gave up their struggle out offrustration. Thus, the present case studyprovides an apt example of failure on all fronts.

Recommendations

Need for an integrated approach

The problems associated with the threeaspects of water resources studied clearlyindicate the failure of markets, institutions andpolicies. It may be noted that these failures aredefined in a rather narrow sense here, asmarkets fall in the broader context of institutions.The problems associated with each of theaspects of water are rooted in one or more ofthese failures. Therefore, it is difficult to identifya particular problem related to water with aspecific failure, though each aspect has adominant failure type, such as groundwater beinga case (dominant) of policy failure. Moreover,these failures are interlinked and overlap withone another.

As demonstrated by our case studies, thefailures are more due to the partial nature ratherthan due to their absence, except perhaps in the

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case of groundwater, for markets fail becausethey do not have institutional support. We haveseen in the case of canal irrigation systems inAndhra Pradesh and elsewhere, that pricepolicies need to be fostered with appropriateinstitutional arrangements in order to make theformer effective. On the other hand, institutionsfail in the absence of market mechanisms tosustain the institutions, as institutions cannotsurvive long only with external support. Thiscould well be the case with the water userassociations (WUAs) in Andhra Pradesh, if thesystem does not adapt to an effective self-financing mechanism through appropriate pricepolices. The success of some of the initiativesin natural resource management, traditional aswell as modern, is rooted in the integration ofmarket and institutional factors. Though our casestudies do not deal with such success stories,they clearly drive home the point that the failurescould be due to the absence of an integratedapproach. Further, there is a need forcoordination between water policies and otherpolicies, such as input and output policies. Theyshould work in tandem rather than in diagonallyopposite directions. These include input andoutput policies such as input subsidies (includingpower), procurement policies, etc.

Such an integrated approach makes senseeven on theoretical grounds, as it helps inkeeping the transaction costs low, which iscrucial for sustaining the institutions.

Pricing mechanism leads to increased cohesionand cooperation within the community, as eachmember has a stake in the upkeep of the institution,consequent upon his or her contribution.

Increased cooperation means low transactioncosts towards organising the community andkeeping it together. However, equity in sharingthe costs (user charges or contributions) on thebasis of resource use is critical for sustainingthe institutional arrangements. In the absenceof equity, people contributing disproportionatelyhigher shares may tend to undermine thecollective action initiatives. Similarly, institutionalback up for market approaches also reducestransaction costs, as they make compliance torules and regulations (including pricing) easierand smooth. Recovery of irrigation charges tendsto be high in the presence of appropriate

institutional mechanisms. However, the processneeds to be dynamic in order to address thechanging contexts of the market as well asinstitutional mechanisms.

In the context of groundwater managementthe following issues need immediate policyattention:

· Integrated approach of groundwaterdevelopment / exploitation with surface waterbodies like tanks. These two sources of watershould be treated as complements rather thansubstitutes. As a first step, all traditional tanksystems should be revived and converted intopercolation tanks, wherever necessary. Thebenefits from such a programme would beenormous when compared to the losses dueto degradation, and hence, it makes economicand ecological sense.

· So far, groundwater is regulated throughsupply regulation of electricity rather thanfixing the electricity charges appropriately.Only 9 hours of power supply is beingprovided in a day in rural areas due to powershortages. Though this has helped inchecking the degradation in the short run, itis not a real solution in the long run. By theend of 2002, Andhra Pradesh is set to be apower surplus state. This coupled withsubsidised power prices would aggravate theprocess of environmental degradation.Therefore, economic pricing of electricity withproper monitoring facilities would be moreappropriate.

· Institutional arrangements are required tomake groundwater a common pool resourcein the true sense of the term. In this regard,de-linking of water rights from land rightswould help address the equity issueseffectively. However, the transaction costs forenforcing such a system would be enormous.In this context, the experiences of some NGO(Pani Panchayat) experiments in the countrywhere water rights are given even to landlesshouseholds, would be helpful. Similarly theexperiences of countries like South Africa,where attempts are being made to effectivelyabolish the riparian rights on water, wouldthrow some light in this regard.

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· In the event of high transaction costs involvedwith enforcing the separation of water rightsfrom land rights, adding the scarcity price ofwater to electr ici ty, which amounts todiscriminatory pricing of power depending onthe status of water resources in the region.Resources generated from such scarcity rentcan be diverted towards the development ofsections of the local community that areunable to have access to water for variousreasons.

In the context of surface water management,the following issues need immediate policyattention:

· There is an immediate need to bring thebalance between minor, major and mediumirrigation systems through judicious fundallocations under the purview of WUAs.

· Minor irr igation sources of tanks andgroundwater should be treated in anintegrated fashion. For this, groundwaterneeds to be brought under the purview of theWUAs. This calls for major initiatives in legaland legislative reforms to address the rightson groundwater. The experience of SouthAfrica would help in understanding the issuesof delinking of water rights from land. In fact,South Africa has effectively abolished theriparian rights.

· The reforms should initiate the process toconvert water into an economic good through

introduction of volumetric pricing, at least inthe canal commands to start with. Effectivereforms require integration of market andinstitutional dimensions. Though short-runpolitical interests may go against this, it wouldhave a multiplier effect on the long-runpolitical and economic gains. At the sametime, proper devolution of powers to local levelinstitutions would help in addressing thepolitical bottlenecks effectively.

· Transfer of powers and responsibilities to theWUAs at the minor level should be doneeffectively, though in a phased manner.Hitherto, WUAs were entrusted withresponsibilities without any rights.

· There is a need for exploring the possibilityof integrating the Panchayati Raj institutionsinto the reform process for sustaining thereforms in the long run. So far, these localbodies have been totally bypassed by the newinitiatives.

In the context of water quality management,the following issues need immediate policyattention:

· There is need for strict regulation on theindustries to adopt pollution mitigatingtechnologies, or face closure. However, thiscalls for a close look at the economics ofpollution mitigating technologies, which willbe a worthy exercise. State policy also has amajor role to play in this regard.

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Economic and Environmental Aspects of Drinking WaterSupply in Rural Tamil Nadu: A Case Study ofTiruchirappalli District

M Ravichandran Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli

Introduction

Water is a renewable natural resource, whichhas no substitute, and must be allocated acrosssectors like agriculture, industry and domesticuse, in developing nations. The domestic sectorgenerally requires less than 10 percent of thetotal water. Yet one-fourth of the rural populationis deprived of access to safe water. Even whereprovided, the distribution and quality continue topresent problems. India, as signatory to theUnited Nations Resolutions on �InternationalDrinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade1982- 90� had assured full support to the actionplan under the decadal programme. Thelaunching of the �Rajiv Gandhi Drinking WaterMission - 1986� for rural water supply meant adeparture from the conventional way ofimplementing water supply schemes in ruralareas.

Objectives

The objectives of the study are to:

· Understand the economic and environmentalimplications of rural water supply programmesin Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu.

· Suggest measures for improving the existingsystem.

Site and Methodology

Tiruchirappalli district was chosen to conductthe village level case studies. This is one of the30 districts in the state, comprising 8 talukas,14 blocks, 408 village panchayats and 2,376habitations. 311 sample rural households werechosen across 4 talukas, 4 blocks, 5 villages and46 habitat ions by using the strat i f iedproportionate random sampling method. Totally,five villages were selected and grouped under

four categories - wet, wet and dry, dry, and hillyregions. In three of the selected villages, 10percent of the sample households were chosen.In the remaining two vi l lages, where thecharacteristics are mixed, only 5 percent of thesample households were chosen for the study.Besides this, secondary information on the statusof drinking water provision across 2,376habitations was used to prepare a broad profileof rural water supply in the district.

Analysis of data is carried out at two levels.One at the habitation level, based on secondarysource of information, and the other at thehousehold level with the help of primary data.Regression analysis was used to analyse boththe secondary and primary data sources ofinformation. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS)method is followed with linear formulations forestimating the values. The block rate pricingmethod is used to estimate the tariff rates forthe piped water service connections with the helpof the actual village level data.

Existing Water Supply Schemes

Modern provisions through the Tamil NaduWater and Drainage Board (TWAD) began asearly as 1974. At present, 95 percent of the totalhabitations in the district are covered with handpumps, while only 46 percent have power pumpsviz., Over Head Tanks (OHT) and Ground LevelWater Reservoirs (GLWR) through stand posts,and only 6.6 percent enjoyed house serviceconnections. Of the 2,376 rural habitations in thedistrict, 1,347 habitations have been fullycovered and 1,029 habitations were partiallycovered by the Board in the provision of watersupply.

Modern sources provided include handpumps and power pumps (OHT, public fountains

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and house service connections). 95 percent ofthe habitations have access to hand pumpfacilities;. 46 percent were covered with powerpumps, and 8.4 percent had pipelines extendedfrom other sources. The provision of hand pumpsas against the government norm has not beenfulfilled in 73 percent of the habitations. Theconcentration of OHT facility is higher in wetvillages. The capacity of OHT has been loweras against the government norm in all thehabitations. In dry villages, the number of standposts provided per 1,000 population is below thenorm.

The Combined Water Supply Scheme(CWSS) is the latest water supply programmeunder implementation. Of the total capitalinvested in the district, 56 percent is by CWSS.In terms of coverage of habitations, CWSS couldcover even remote villages with potable waterwhere water scarcity is acute . However, CWSSis not cost effective.

Of the total schemes, about 51 percent wereinstalled during 1981-90, during the InternationalDrinking Water and Sanitation Decade. The percapita installation cost per scheme worked outto be Rs.29,000 for hand pumps, Rs.2.89 lakhsfor power pumps and Rs.1118.1Iakhs for CWSSat current prices. In all, the cost of provision ofpublic water is significantly higher, particularlywith CWSS.

In financing the water supply schemes, 49.3percent of the total cost was borne by loansextended by Life Insurance Corporation. Thestate contributed 16.6 percent through MinimumNeeds Programme (MNP), 6.3 percent camefrom the local body, 5.9 percent from the CentralGovernment; and 16 percent was contributed byothers towards various schemes in the district.The contributions made by international agencieshave been less than one percent of the total.

With respect to cost, the provision of watersupply is skewed more towards wet, and wet anddry villages than the other categories. Executionof water supply schemes was carried out largelyby the TWAD Board, followed by local bodies,District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) andothers. Less than 10 percent of houses had in-

house latrine facil i t ies and 99 percent ofhouseholds practiced open-air defecation.

Regression results suggest that variations inper capita water supplied per day are explainedby independent variables such as area, standposts per 1,000 population, and yieldingcapacity, at the 5 percent level of significance.The R square was 0.22.

Primary Survey

The primary survey of households was aimedat capturing the demand for water at thehousehold level, with respect to quantity, quality,sources, time taken, distance traveled, watercollectors, consumption of water by livestock,willingness to pay, access to traditional watersources, health and personal hygienic practices.This is essential ly to evaluate theresponsiveness of users as against theprovisions made by the state.

The demand scenario across five villagesshowed a varying pattern of consumptionbehaviour towards modern and traditionalsources of water, and the existence of physicalsources (hand pump, stand post) and traditionalsources (oothu, kudavu , river, stream and openwell etc.).

Dependence on modern/mission sourcesstarted only after the 1970s, and continues tobe a major source at present. Wet villagesreceived greater number of schemes than othercategory villages. Wet and dry villages enjoyedmore of combined water supply schemes. Dryvillage received less public utility facilities anddepended largely on traditional sources. Thevillages in the hilly regions have been served bytraditional source through modern scheme ofdistribution of water.

Major modern schemes identified in the studyvillages included hand pumps, power pumps(OHT, CWSS, GLWR), public fountains, houseservice connections, and agricultural bore-wells,while the traditional sources are spring, kudavu,stream, river, pond and open well. Among themodern schemes, power pumps are thedominant source from which respondents drawwater for domestic purposes. Hand pumps are

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more widely used in wet villages. House serviceconnections are not given in the dry and hillyregions.

The mean distance traveled to fetch water inwet, and wet and dry villages was less than 100meters, the time taken being 62 minutes per day/ household. In dry and hilly regions, the meandistance was 775 meters, and households spenton average four hours per day towards fetchingwater for domestic purposes. The time spent forfetching and waiting time for traditional sourceranged from a minimum of one hour to amaximum of six hours during the summer.

The total water drawn for domestic purposesper household is estimated to be 366 liters perday. Water utilized for drinking and cooking aloneis 30 liters per household, which constitutes 8percent of the total consumption. The per capitaconsumption is 76 liters, of which use for drinkingand cooking purposes is 6.1 liters. Seasonalvariations in the context of drinking water scarcityaspect were prominent in dry villages. Scarcitywas less in other categories of villages due tothe availability of sufficient water.

Among the total respondents, the percentageof women water collectors constituted 93.8percent, inclusive of female school goingchildren. The per capita consumption by livestockis estimated at 10 liters per day. Willingness topay is posit ive with 75 percent of therespondents. On an average, the amount ofmoney they are willing to pay is Rs.8 per monthper house for improved water supply. Willingnessto pay (WTP) for improved quality/quantity isrelated to col lect ion t ime, social status(community) and farm size. These threeindependent variables significantly and positivelyinfluence the WTP. The regression analysis alsoindicates a relationship between per capita waterconsumption and household area, cookingrequirement per day, family size and value ofhouse. These four variables turned out to besignificant at the 5 percent level. The value of Rsquare is 0.21. Area and family size showed anegative relationship, while the coefficient ofvalue of house and cooking per day was positive.

Two separate tariff rates for rural watersupply, based on the primary survey informationhave been worked out:

· A rate ranging between Rs.22 to 44, percapita per annum, for recovering replacementcost and O&M cost for all the study villages.

· A rate of Rs.48 per household per month forrecovering O& M cost and maintaining qualityfor those having house service connections.

Environmental Issues

Given the fact that human intervention causestremendous changes in the ecosystem ingeneral, and water source in particular, theenvironmental implications of drinking water canbe described in the backdrop of the socio-economic conditions. This study addresses fivefacets of environmental implications of ruralwater supply, viz; i) degradation of drinking waterquality and the health impacts thereof; ii)deplet ion of ground water resources; i i i )increased burden on female children as watercollectors; iv) environmental conflicts betweenagricultural and domestic sector; and v)dominance of modern sources over traditionalsource.

Water quality of samples drawn was testedfor chemical, physical and biological parametersfrom twenty locations across the study villages.The results showed the surface water samplescontained higher levels of fecal coliform duringrainy seasons compared to the groundwatersource. However, the surface water, whichhappened to be the traditional source, iscomparatively free from physical and chemicalcontaminants. Chemical and physicalcontaminants in groundwater were generally wellwithin the permissible level in the select villages.

Health hazards due to unsafe water vary indifferent regions and sources of water. Forinstance, people living in hilly regions sufferedthe maximum from water-borne diseases, whilethe wet and dry villages were the least affected.Modern sources are not as safe as the statehas claimed. Of the total respondents, only 7percent of the traditional source of water userswere affected by water related diseases,whereas, percent of the modern source userswere affected. Can we conclude that modernsources are no longer safe, while traditionalsources are safer 60 percent of the respondentsreplied improperly due to lack of awareness of

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the linkage between health and safe water.However, the fact remains that 75 percent of therespondents were willing to pay for improvedwater quality and quantity of supply.

If the rate of extraction of groundwaterresource exceeds the rate of recharge, then theresults would have serious environmentalimplications. Lowering of groundwater table isobserved in the district to an extent of 1.1 meterson an average between 1971 and 1999.Inadequate rainfall, occurrence of rainfall for afew days at irregular intervals, over-extractionof water and lack of replenishment due to rockyformation were the causes expressed by therespondents.

In addition, the impact of environmentaldegradation in terms of depletion of groundwaterresources on females, including female children,is evident in one of the study villages. In a dryvillage, a large number of female children werecollecting water. Females in general, and femalechildren in particular, traveled a distance of 3km and spent between 1 to 6 hours a day fetchingwater during summer from a traditional sourceviz., the spring. Statistical testing showed thatthere is a significant difference between dry andother categories of villages in terms of thenumber of female children engaged in carryingwater. Indirect cost of time and distance werehigher in the collection of water from thetraditional sources when compared to modernsources. Modern schemes reduced the indirectcost of collection considerably. Among themodern sources, collection from hand pumpsinvolved more time, distance and energycompared to stand posts.

Environmental conflicts that arose betweenagriculture and domestic users brought to lighta newer dimension to water conflicts. Thegeneral tendency is that the increasing numberof agricultural bore wells results in depletion ofground water, thereby affecting the drinkingwater availability. The newer phenomenonobserved was that the Combined Water SupplyScheme meant for augmenting drinking waterprovision has allegedly depleted the groundwaterpotential, thereby depleting the water meant foragricultural activities.

Controversies over traditional vis-à-vismodern sources have been continuing over thelast two decades. Modern schemes have anedge over traditional sources in the recentperiod. However, traditional sources are handywhenever modern sources fail. Even in somecases, modern technology is applied to distributewater by drawing water from traditional sources.The traditional sources are to be conserved andpreserved. The current concept of �rainwaterharvesting� needs to be popularized in ruralareas. Modern schemes should supplementtraditional water sources, but not supplant thelatter.

Conclusions

This study confirms that the implementationof water provision schemes is skewed towardswet, and wet and dry villages, while arid and hillyregions have received less attention. This isevident with respect to the creation of physicalassets such as hand pumps and OHTs, capitalinvestment made, per capita availability, distancetraveled and so on. Traditional sources of watercontinued to be handy in vi l lages wheregovernment schemes played a lesser role. Withregard to water quality, surface water sourceswere susceptible to biological contaminants,while groundwater is affected to some extent bychemical and physical contaminants. Thefindings of our study are not in line with thegovernment�s stand that modern sources ofwater are safer, and the conventional sourcesare unsafe. The policy implications of the studyfocus on demand focussed rather than supplyoriented decision-making in the provision of ruralwater supply. The latter has proved to be a failureowing to uneven distr ibution across thecategories of villages in the study district. Greaterinvestment is needed in dry and hilly regions ofthe district, where the existing schemes are smallin number, while the demand for domestic useis higher in these two categories of villages.Finally, the �user pay� principle needs to beinvoked for rural water supply too. As againstarbitrary water tariff, a rate, which ensurescontinuous operation and maintenance plus goodquality, has to be implemented to achievesustainability in rural water supply.

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Reviving a Water Heritage: Economic and EnvironmentalPerformance of Traditional Water Harvesting Systems inWestern India

Keshab Das Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad

Introduction

The impending crisis of scarcity of potablewater, even in high rainfall zones, has emergedas an issue of serious national concern. It isfairly well established by now that it is no longerfeasible to meet all the domestic water needsthrough perpetual and excessive withdrawal ofgroundwater. While industrial units and urbansettlers competing with other users (includingagriculturists) continue to remain in the arena ofpolicy debate. Alternative ways and means tomeet the growing demand for potable water fromthe rural sector have come under urgentconsideration. This is particularly so as the state-run piped water schemes have left much to bedesired in terms of reliability, adequacy andsustainability of water supply in rural India.

The relatively recent initiation of reorientationin rural water supply, as part of the overallsectoral reform initiatives and emphasising userfinancing and local management, faces anumber of constraints. The most notable ofthese hurdles concerns the inadequate or lowrecovery from the very poor rural households.Despite the soundness of the �eff iciency�argument, payment for capital expenditure byindividual households in poverty remains acomplex issue to tackle.

Objectives


· Work out the potential of revival andmodernization of traditional water harvestingsystems.

· Address the vital problem of ensuring that theavailabi l i ty of potable water in ruralhouseholds is sustainable.

It is important to recognize that much of the�enthusiasm� generated by the decade-and-a-half-old resurgence of interest in TraditionalWater Harvesting Systems (TWHS) asalternatives in solving the rural water crisis,needs to be validated against their actualpotential. This is important as TWHS dependson collecting and storing surface run-off andrainwater. Therefore, it is an excellent option thatdoes not draw upon the valuable groundwaterbeyond the rechargeable limit.

While TWHS are thought upon as optionsbased on local knowledge, environment andsocio-cultural practices, a large number of themcan no longer cater to the total demand for waterin a given village in which the population keepsgrowing. Further, barring a few, in many casesthe tradit ional form of community-basedmanagement of the structures has been a matterof past. Gross neglect of these common propertyresources is evident in the existence of damagedstructures, pollution of the water and evenforcible possession by vested interests forprivate purposes.

Despite the indifference meted out to theseage-old structures in many regions, especiallywhen attention centred around the solution thatwas expected to come about through the modernpiped water system, TWHS continue to functionin numerous villages of India, and if not fully,these sources could fulfil demand for water fordomestic use partially, particularly during thesummer months.

Study Area

In view of the rather limited and sketchyliterature available on TWHS (meant mainly fordrinking water purpose) and the growing needto appreciate their environmental and economicperformance, this study concentrated on three

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distinct TWHS as extensively found in the TharDesert and Central Uplands Regions. Thesystems studied are bavdis in western MadhyaPradesh, wells (which are primarily rechargedby nadis) in western Rajasthan and talavs in theKutch region of Gujarat.

Bavdis or the community step wells areshallower than wells. They have beautiful archesalong their full height. Bavdis can hold water fora long time because of almost negligible waterevaporation when compared to other waterbodies.

A nadi is essentially a natural surfacedepression, which receives rainwater from oneor more directions. Some nadis have stonewallson one or two sides to enhance the capacity ofwater retention.

A talav is a local water reservoir situated invalleys and natural depressions. In old talavs,only the slope side was provided with strongparapet walls to hold the rainwater. Other sideswere naturally supported by outcrops of hillocksor elevated rocky formations.

Methodology

Three distinct approaches were followed:

Hydrogeological and engineering surveyswere undertaken to understand the functionaldynamics of the systems. These also includedexploring possible technical interventions andmodifications needed to improve the existingstructures so as to enhance the availability ofwater. Estimates of cost of revival/modernizationof TWHS were arrived at following these surveys,as well as consultations with locally informedpeople, NGOs and concerned engineers andhydrologists in the local state/taluka departmentoffices. Similarly, estimates were also preparedfor capital expenditure and O&M costs forinstalling piped water network in the village, soas to provide a tap connection to everyhousehold. These sets of estimates were madefor all the six sample villages.

Village and Household level surveys wereconducted in order to elicit information ondemographic and socio-economic variables ofthe inhabitants and availability of infrastructuralfacil it ies. A total of 301 households were

surveyed for the purpose. Special care was takento obtain as much detailed data as possible onwater related issues, such as, sources, patternof use, time taken and distance covered to fetchwater, and perception about quality. Thehousehold and village level structured surveyswere supplemented by fairly well attended focusgroup discussions (FGDs), oriented in a mannerto understand diverse views as expressed freelyby the participants. The focus group discussionsdealt primarily with the delicate issues ofcommunity ownership and management of theexisting TWHS.

The third, but vital approach followed in theanalysis related to the valuation of popularwillingness to pay (WTP) for provision of waterfacilities through improved TWHS, and watersupply through household level tap connections.This exercise was based on structuredquestionnaires prepared following the ContingentValuation Method (CVM). The introduction of theoption of mode of payment was supposed to helpreveal respondents� actual ability to pay for theamenities.

These exercises in ascertaining householdsWTP from possible water supply devices,proposed through the creation of a hypotheticalmarket scenario, provided the most interestingclues regarding popular perception about theTWHS and/or modern piped water supply, andtheir readiness to pay for either or both of thesesystems.

Results

Drawing upon available documentation onTWHS and extensive field surveys in the broadecological zones of the Thar Desert and CentralHighlands, it is obvious that TWHS not only varysubstant ial ly in terms of technology andmanagement, but also their functioning dependscrucially on the local discrete environment.Keeping these local specificities in view, thepotential of selected systems in terms of long-term sustainability can be described in brief asfollows:

Bavdis in Southwestern Madhya Pradesh:These exist in huge numbers. But, mainly dueto their typically small size and limited storagecapacity, these are probably not the bestoptions for meeting community water needs.

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However, as observed by the hydro geologistsand water engineers, it is possible to deepenexisting talavs and dig new ones that, in turn,would recharge bavdis. In Dhababavdi(Barwani district), the two currently functioningbavdis serve a limited purpose and, clearlycannot address the water scarcity problem ofthe entire village.

Wells in Western Rajasthan: Wells asTWHS in the western parts of Rajasthan havecontinued to prove useful, even during summermonths in the driest geoclimatic region of India.Unlike bavdis, wells are extensively used bythe rural communities and are well maintained.All the wells visited in this region during thepeak summer season had a good supply ofwater, and the local perception about its qualitywas positive. An important hydrogeologicalcharacteristic of the wells surveyed was thatthe structures had been linked to undergroundperennial streams/channels. Also, these wellshad been bui l t w i th reference to thesurrounding nadis (TWHS by themselves) soas to receive water recharged through them.This ingenious select ion of locat ion andconstruction of the structures ensured a steadysupply of water in the wells. These wells holdmuch potential to be revived and modernized.One effective approach would be to desilt,deepen and widen the concerned nadis; thiswill ensure a substantial increase in availabilityof water in the wells, which may be stored fora long period of time. These structures are alsoviable options in these regions, where pipedwater systems are most likely to fail due to verylow groundwater tables.

Talavs in Kutch, Gujarat: Almost all partsof the Kutch region have suffered substantialgroundwater depletion and salinity ingress.High incidence of poor groundwater bearingformations has resulted in severe water crisisin the region. Talavs certainly remain animportant solution to the water problem inKutch. In many vi l lages visited, vi l lagersconsidered water from local talavs to be ofgood quality, especially since that water isavailable during prolonged spells of summer.The structures in the surveyed villages areunique examples of interconnected talavs,specially designed to prevent drinking water

mingling with water in other talavs meant forwashing or bathing purposes. In terms of sizeand capacity, talavs are of large dimensions.These are in dire need of revival andmodernization and can surely prove valuable inaddressing the water shortage problem in theKutch region. Unlike the saline groundwater,talavs retain potable water and also rechargesurrounding aquifers, as do other TWHS likewells.

Water Quality

A commonly held observation disfavouringTWHS as potential sources of potable waterconcerns the �unprotected� and �unsafe� natureof the water. This important dimension of thequality of water of TWHS must be taken intoconsideration in evaluating their potential. Watersamples from the surveyed TWHS werecollected for chemical analyses. Of the sevenwater samples collected from individual TWHS,in all the cases the water was found suitable fordrinking; the incidence of total dissolved solids(TDS) was within permissible l imits.Bacteriological analyses of the water sampleswere also carried out in the laboratory followingscientific instructions. These tests, however,indicated the unsuitability of the water for drinkingpurposes due to the presence of very highconcentrations of coliform bacteria.

Irrespective of the fact that most villagers usethe water of TWHS for drinking, cooking andother domestic purposes, these scientific testsindicate deficiencies in water quality. In mostcases, as in the surveyed TWHS, quality of watercan be upgraded substantially through cost-effective methods of treatment. Whether somesources are to be abandoned, primarily due tolack of any scope to improve water quality, evenup to the level of being used for domesticpurposes (other than human drinking) only,should be left exclusively to the discretion of thescientific experts.

Valuation of TWHS

Whereas hydrogeological and structuralengineering studies could work out interventionsthat would revive/ modernize the specific TWHSon a long-term sustainability basis, the estimationof both the capital cost as well as O&M indicatesthe financial investment that would be required.

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Such estimates are likely to represent the totaluse value of the environmental �commodity� inquestion. As the analysis concentrates onpotable water meant for domestic consumptiononly, the existence value of the commoditybecomes irrelevant. Also, the nature of benefitsof having access to good quality water is verymuch within the knowledge of the potential users.It may hence, be held that the assessment ofWTP undertaken in the study falls within thebroad purview of cost-benefit analysis.Assuming that the entire cost of revival/modernization would be shared between all thehouseholds in the village, an assessment of thewillingness to pay for the improvised structureswas made. The most significant aspect of theWTP exercise was that a substantial 65 percentof all households surveyed were not willing topay any amount whatsoever for either or boththe hypothetically proposed facilities. Despitehaving a series of independent variables,indicating the most likely socio-economic factors,regressed with the amount of WTP, the statelevel results showed only per capita consumptionof water in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, andcaste of the household in Gujarat as thesignificant variables affecting the WTP (Table 1).However, when similar regressions were run forRajasthan, none of the variables was found tobe significant.

Table 1: Overall Summary of LogisticRegression Results

State/ Level of 1% Level of 5% Level of 10% Level ofSignificance Significance Significance Significance

Madhya Pradesh PCHUMQ (1.035)

Rajasthan

Gujarat CASTE (0.174) PCHUMQ (1.049)

In fact, a close examination of the nature andextent of households� WTP provides interestinginsights into such a pattern of response. First,most households in the Rajasthan villages livein extreme poverty and, naturally have refusedto pay at all for the water from either TWHS orpiped systems. The villagers are perfectly awarethat the existing wells, from where they havebeen drawing water free even during the peaksummer months, will continue to meet their

minimum basic demand for potable water.However, if extreme poverty could lead to anegative response for paying for water, inDhababavdi (the MP village), quite a few villagersliving below the poverty line have expressed theirwillingness to pay even small sums for waterfacilities. This is so, as this village has practicallyexhausted all existing sources and the value forwater has clearly risen for them.

Second, unlike the capital cost, most villagersin all the surveyed villages were willing to payfor the O&M for TWHS. In many cases, theestimated contribution for O&M for the proposedpiped system was much higher than that forTWHS. People�s willingness to contribute freelabour indicates the preference for the revival/modernization of the TWHS. Table 2 presentsthe proportions of respondents willing to pay forrevival of TWHS, laying of piped system, O&Mfor both TWHS and pipe network and contributionof free labour across sample villages.

Table 2: Willingness to Pay Across SampleVillages

(Percentages)

Particulars Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Gujarat

Dhababavdi Temla Nagana Godavas Tera RehaMota

WTPTWHS

26.8 11.8 14.3 4.7 77.3 11.8

WTPPIPE 22.0 9.8 5.7 - 18.2 7.8

WTPO&MTWHS 39.0 76.5 97.1 100.0 93.2 90.2

WTPO&MPIPE 29.3 13.7 17.1 - 72.7 13.7

WTPLABOURTWHS 92.7 84.3 97.1 100.0 77.3 74.5

An important aspect of this exercise inassessing WTP is that even the mostsophisticated methods of valuation may beinadequate to elicit information on the WTPbehaviour if the respondents refuse to participatein the �bidding� process, mainly due to abjectpoverty and rejecting the very proposal thatpotable water could be priced for the rural poor.

Recommendations

A number of technological options to revive/modernize the TWHS have been put forth by thehydrogeological and engineering experts. Mostof the considered suggestions have been highly

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discrete (specific to the system or site per se),and have often incorporated ideas from localinhabitants. For instance, as may be seen fromTable 3 especially, the bavdis may not prove to

be adequate sources of water due to their smallsize. Table 3 presents brief notes on suggestedtechnological interventions, which may serve asuseful guidelines in appreciating the utility andsustainability of individual systems.

Table 3: Structural Issues Relating to theRevival of TWHS

Particulars Bavdi Well Talav

Dhababavdi Temla Nagana Godavas Tera RehaMota

Structural Structure is HugeFeatures small capacity

andfavourabletopography

Potability Unsuitable Unsuitable Ground Increasing Used as Reportedfor human for human water is salinity potable to bedrinking drinking becoming water unsuitable

saline fordrinkingbut goodforcooking

Technological Desilting of Desilting of Desilting of Diseases DesiltingInterventions catchments local talav local talav reporteddue would

would improve is essential would to bacterial improvewater table for recharge improve contamination the

of the bavdi the water of the water groundand reduce during late watersalinity summers level in

the area

Table 4 presents some relevant issues

covering management and maintenance of the

TWHS. In the case of the well in Nagana in

Rajasthan and the talav in Tera in Gujarat, the

local community themselves managed and

maintained the TWHS . These are the villages

where the use of water from TWHS has been

extensive, and also the quality of water has been

well maintained. In the remaining cases, a

preference has been expressed for complete or

partial involvement of the state government in

managing and maintaining the sources. In these

villages, the general lack of confidence in the

efficacy of the sarpanches in managing these

sources is striking. The possibility of public and

private participation in financing the revival of the

TWHS in these villages may be explored.

Table 4: Management Issues in Revival andMaintenance of the TWHS

Bavdi Well Talav

Dhababavdi Temla Nagana Godavas Tera Reha Mota

Presently Government/ Panchayat Improper Community Governmentprivately Panchayat managed local managed shouldowned; managed; management take up theGovernment Distrust managementshould among thetake-over people& manage regarding

usageof funds

Sarpanch Sarpanch Leadership Localis illiterate; is illiterate; is caste leaders areLack of Lack of biased highlyleadership leadership motivated

andconcernedaboutwatermanagement

No Women Lack of People Generallyparticipation do not sense of are peoplefrom have a responsibility united werewomen say in the for for not

local maintenance maintenance interestedmanagement of existing of the in taking

structures system up themaintenanceandmanagementof theirwater supply

It was apparent that TWHS were not, or willnot be able to cater to the total requirement ofdrinking water in the villages, mainly due to therise in population in the past decades.Nevertheless, if they are revived/repaired andmore importantly, if the ownership is shifted fromthe present private owners to the originalcommunity, these sources can be of substantialuse, especially during summer.

Piped water systems, though preferable, havethe implications of increasing cost in the future,either due to an increase in population ordepletion of groundwater. Additionally, theubiquitous problem of unreliability of piped watersupply has serious implications for consideringalternative sources.

Hydrogeology specif ic technologicalstrategies to harness rainwater and modernizeTWHS need to be explored, as enhanced supplyper se can reduce costs significantly. In suchventures, whether and how the State canintervene or seek private participation, both for

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f inancing and providing technical andmanagement support, is an issue to be explored.In TWHS, the trickier issue is management withcommunity participation. The control over thesystem by the local dominant group is difficult towish away.

Interestingly, the large-scale prevalence ofTWHS in its varied forms in the three states hasnot been adequately documented in the ratherlimited literature on the subject. Locating theTWHS through the field survey in itself was animportant aspect of the study.

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Pricing of Irrigation Water in Kerala with SpecialReference to Environmental Management

P. Indira Devi Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

Introduction

Economic development in India is heavilydependent on sustainable agriculturalproduction, since agriculture is considered to bethe backbone of the nation. Further, waterresource availability and the quantum of wateravailable for irrigation determine the sustainableagricultural production in India. It has beenestimated that, of the total water use in thecountry, 80 percent is being used for irrigation.The situation in Kerala is no different. Moreover,irrigation water is not priced properly.

Often highlighted as a state with a highliteracy rate, Kerala is also regarded as a placewith very low level of water literacy, maybe dueto historical reasons. This study was undertakento assess the value of irrigation water as a basisfor pricing of irrigation in Kerala for sustainableand viable performance of the major irrigationprojects In the long run, this study may form thebasis for developing a strategy for pricingirrigation water that will reflect the true value ofthe resource.

Objectives

The objectives of the present study are to:

· Estimate the value of irrigation water basedon water productivity.

· Identify the non-irrigation uses of irrigationsystems, and estimate the non-use value ofwater in such uses.

· Measure the net benefits of irrigation andestimate the total economic value of irrigationwater.

Site

Peechi, one of the major irrigation projects ofKerala, was selected for the study. The project

consists of a masonry dam and a storagereservoir at Peechi and a system of irrigationcanals which crisscross Thrissur taluk. Theproject was started in 1947 and completed in1959. Water was first let out for irrigation in 1953.

The project has been in operation for nearly40 years and the whole system is in a dilapidatedcondition. Farms situated at the end reaches ofthe canals hardly get water to suit theirrequirements, whereas the farmers at the upperreaches have to struggle to drain water from theirlands. A good quantity of irrigation water is beingwasted at the upper reaches by seepage. Themaintenance grant available for the project is noteven sufficient to remove the silt deposit in thecanals and branches as well as slips and otherdeposits

Water Use Trade off in Command Area

The water in the Peechi reservoir satisfies theneeds of the community/farmers. Any change inthe capacity of the reservoir will directly affectthe water supply. The capacity of the dam in 1955was 113.27 Mm,3 which had reduced to 87.62Mm3 in 1980. The projected dam capacity in 2002is only 74.01 Mm3. This was mainly due to thesedimentation caused by land use changes inthe upstream and deforestation in the area. Thepoor maintenance of the canal system (mostlyunlined) resulted in large-scale losses at thedistribution level.

Further, the water release data from PeechiIrrigation System shows a shift in favour ofdrinking water. The quantity of water releasedfor drinking purposes showed an increase of83.18 percent over a period of 17 years, whilethat for irrigation declined by 42.73 percent. Therelease of water through the Right Bank MainCanal (RBC)/ Left Bank Main Canal (LBC) mainly

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starts by September-October and ends at thelatest by March. During the severe droughtperiods of April and May, no water is releasedand the people have to rely on alternate copingmechanisms. For domestic needs, they dependon the closest perennial wells or on drinkingwater markets. 66 percent of sample farmersresorted to alternate mechanisms, the averagecost of which is estimated as Rs.170/ family/season. This included the time/ effort taken tobring water or the cost incurred on purchase. Theeffect of shrinking water release to irrigation ismanifested in many ways as detailed below.

Declining Command Area and Changing LandUse

The command area of the project hasremained unchanged over the years at 18,623ha, of which 15,808 ha is the cropped area. Only75 percent of area irrigated in the beginning ofthe project was being irrigated by 2000, and ithad further declined to 63 percent by 2001. Thereduction in area was more drastic in RBCcompared to LBC. The area under kole lands(paddy fields) remained the same. (The kolelands are submerged fields below mean sealevel, which are used for paddy cultivation duringsummer. These lands are unsuitable for otherpurposes). The data projects a situation ofdeclining levels of irrigated area in the commandarea of the project, against the targeted area.The decl ining capacity of the reservoir,increasing pressure from the domestic sector,and distribution losses are identified as the majorreasons for this decline in the irrigated area.

Distributional Inequality

Consequent to the decline in the release ofwater, the distributional inequalities result in headreach farmers enjoying more water. The averageuse of water for irrigation by the head reachfarmers is estimated at 14.16 m3/day/ ha, whileit is only 4.7-m3/ day/ ha in the tail end. In themiddle portion, it is 6.93-m3/ day/ ha. The dataon ground water depth also supports this view.The mean water table declines as one movesfrom head region to middle and tail region.However, it was below 1.5 m. and did not causeany adverse effects, even at the head.

The recharge in wells is influenced byproximity of canal. There exists a moderatedegree of correlation (correlation coefficient of0.2512, which is statistically significant at 5percent level) between the net recharge of farmwells and the distance of farms from the maincanal. It is clear that the canal irrigation provideda positive externality for farm wells, as there isrecharge for the summer season. This water wasused for irrigating the crops, and thus the canalsystem indirectly but strongly affected the farmproductivity.

All the sample farmers in the tail, 90 percentin the mid and 63 percent in the head reach,opined that there is disparity in water distribution,which is in favour of head reach farms. While amajority in the head portion had no complaintson water availability, all the farmers in the tailregion expressed their difficulties. 75 percent ofthe farmers in the far end attributed this to theexcessive use of water by the head reachfarmers. Although there is an alternate irrigationmechanism (tube wells) in the tail end, only richfarmers could afford this option.

Shift in Cropping Pattern

The wide inequality/ variability and uncertaintyin the distribution of water within the commandarea is manifested as special and temporal shiftsin the agricultural system / practices andperformance.

The Peechi project was intended originally fortwo crops of paddy. The first crop, Virippu startsfrom May and is harvested from August toSeptember. The second, crop, Mundakan startsfrom September and is harvested in December.The third crop, Puncha starts from January andis harvested in April. The first crop is rain-fed, andhence no water is released from the reservoir.

Over the period, 1995-96 to 2001-02, thepaddy acreage has declined drastically from 62.1percent to 36.48 percent of the total area.Simultaneously, the coconut and bananaacreage has increased. It is noticed that theconversion to non-agricultural uses was onlymarginal, and crop adjustments within theagricultural area were the major coping strategy.The major shift in paddy lands is mainly in the

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head reach. There is a large-scale conversionof these paddy fields mainly to banana andvegetables.

The proportion of paddy land is lowest in thehead reach and highest in the tail, while thereverse is true in the case of banana andvegetables. In the head reach all paddy lands,except those that are water logged, have beenconverted for banana cultivation. The conversionof paddy fields for banana cultivation in the headreaches warrants an additional investment ofRs.10,000 per hectare owing to stagnant water.Estimating the proportionate contribution ofbanana and vegetables to total farm income, itwas seen that in the head region, the contributionvaried between 60-83 percent, in the mid reach,30-65 percent and in the tail reach, 0-10 percent.

Banana cultivation is a highly remunerativeenterprise, with a significantly high benefit costratio compared to rice. The commercial viabilityof the crop is also very high. The direct benefitsenjoyed by the farmers in the head region in theform of higher income, result in higher socio-economic divergence among the farmers in thecanal command. Higher concentration of bananacultivation in the canal command creates severalnegative externalities viz., environment pollution,as well.

Environmental Aspects

Overuse, unscientific methods of selection ofchemicals and mode of application of systemicpesticides in banana cultivation are alreadyreported in the command area. The residualeffects of these systemic chemicals on produce,soil, water and bio systems are yet to be studiedin detail.

Returns from banana cult ivation aresignificantly influenced by the stalking supportprovided. Since banana has a weak pseudostem, stalking with appropriate poles in timeensures better yield. Due to concentration ofbanana cultivation, the demand for poles hasincreased drastically. It was seen that thesources of 73.5 percent of these poles were fromthe adjoining Peechi Forest area. Pole harvestingaffects regeneration of tree species in the forestarea, and this has affected the vegetativestructure of natural forests. Species with less

regenerating (coppicing) capacity have graduallydisappeared, and trees that have seedabundance and good germination rate dominatedin the lower girth classes. Moreover, opening upof the mid canopy permitting more sunlightintrusion has resulted in the domination of non-arborescent species. This has lead to a situationof declining biodiversity in the natural forests,which will have adverse effects on the ecosystemas a whole.

Overuse of Irrigation Water

Agronomic estimates of water requirementsof important crops are available. However, thepresent water distribution system and irrigationmanagement is done with little regard forefficiency. The flooding system of irrigation iswidely adopted in the canal command area, oftenbeyond the capacity of the farmer to regulate.This results in over irrigation in the head regionand absence in the tail end. Estimation of cropwise consumption of irrigation water might haveprovided a basis for comparison of waterconsumption at the agronomic optimum. But thegarden lands of Kerala are characterised byintercropping, and a majority of them arehomesteads. In this situation, estimating thewater use of individual crops is rather difficultand is of little practical relevance. Hence, it wasnot attempted.

Economic Benefit of Irrigation Project

Irrigation investments were mainly aimed atincreasing the productivity of crops in thecommand area. Hence, the eff iciency ofinvestment can be assessed with the changesin productivity levels of target crops.

The productivity levels of target crops in thecommand area compared to that of districtaverage (period: 1985-86 to 1999-2000) isstudied in this regard. It was observed that thePeechi irrigation system could not make asignificant positive impact on the productivity ofany of the crops studied, contrary to what isexpected. The most important crops, as per theirrigation requirement criteria - summer paddyand banana - experienced a significant declinein productivity levels compared to the districtlevel averages. Recall that 75 percent of rice and

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banana in the command area are irrigated crops.However, the yield gap between irrigated andunirrigated systems narrows down. From afinancial point of view, the investments can bejustified only if the returns are attractive.

Irrigated agriculture has proved to be morefinancially attractive than unirrigated agriculture.The productivity, farm income and BC Ratio ofirrigated plots were found to be higher than thatof the unirrigated plots, as evident from severalstudies. However, in all these estimates, wateris taken as a free good. The expenditureconnected with irrigation included the labour,machinery and fuel charges alone. In thisbackground, the financial efficiency of irrigationinvestments will be abysmally low if estimatedat the actual levels of water rates for irrigation.

Financial Performance of Peechi IrrigationProject

The financial performance of the PeechiIrrigation Project gives a bleak picture with a verylow recovery ratio (ratio of total income collectedto total expenditure) of 11.72 percent. The perhectare expenditure for providing the irrigationservice is Rs.259, whereas the water chargesfixed are only Rs.62 per ha. The actual realisedrevenue is much lower than this, due to variousinstitutional and management factors.

Valuation of Irrigation Water

The major uses to which Peechi irrigationwater is put to may be grouped as:

· Direct irrigation uses

· Indirect uses (through recharge of wells)

· Non-irrigation uses

The valuation is attempted by two methods - A)Cost based, and B) Productivity based

Cost of Supplying Water

In this method, value is estimated as theproduct of cost of supplying the commodity andthe level of use. The Marginal Cost (MC) wasestimated from the function, C = a. Qb, by takingthe first derivative.

MC = b*�C /�Q

As such, the Marginal Cost per m3 waterreleased is estimated as Rs.0.14. It is to bepointed out that this is the cost at the point ofrelease, and does not include the various socialcosts associated with the command areadevelopment programme. Different methods areused in the study to assess the value of theirrigation water.

A) Direct Irrigation Uses

1. Cost Based Approach

The average level of irrigation water use insample farms is estimated based on the demandof 18.9 m3 per day per ha. Thus, the averagecost incurred by the irrigation department on asample farm per day is calculated as the productof MC per unit of water release and the wateruse level. The total number of days irrigated in ayear is found to be 71 days, and hence, theannual cost is Rs.192 per ha.

2. Productivity Based Approach

The value of water, when estimated basedon its productivity, is also attempted. Due to thereasons detailed in the methodology, the wholefarm income was taken as a proxy, and theestimation is done for the three regions. Anadditional unit of (1m3) water applied at the headregion results in a decline in farm output (income)worth Rs.2,256 in the head portion, indicatingthat the farmers are operating in an irrational(third zone) region of classical productionfunction. By virtue of their overuse, the tail endfarmers are denied an average income ofRs.52,550/ ha (which is the difference betweenaverage farm income in the head and tail region).This amount can be considered as the value ofwater in the head region.

Middle reach farmers reap an income fromeach additional unit of water over the mean level,of Rs.38,040 per year/ ha. Earlier studies on theeffect of irrigation on productivity and net farmincome have established that an irrigated farmgenerates 4.2 times more income compared tounirrigated farms. Applying this proportion in thiscase, the value can be fixed at Rs.9,013 per haper year. Following the same concepts, the valueper additional unit of water applied at the tail endis Rs.836 per ha/ year.

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B) Indirect uses (Irrigation / Domestic)through recharge of wells.


The recharge of the wells due to the proximityof the canal is a positive externality, and on anaverage, the water table rise is calculated as12.50 m3 per well. The MC of m3 water releasedwas Rs.0.1434, and the total posit iveexternalities associated with the water rechargecan be quantified as Rs.226 per well per year(product of marginal cost of water release andquantity of water recharge per year 12.5x126days). This indicates that the farmers irrigatingfrom recharged wells are receiving this waterwithout payment of a positive externality equalto Rs.226 per well per year.


The irrigation from recharged wells resultedin an average increase in farm income to theextent of Rs.31 for every additional unit of waterapplied. For this, the average farm levelinvestment was estimated as Rs.13 per m3 ofwater. The value of water used for irrigationthrough recharge is thus Rs.19 for every unit ofwater (1m3). However, it was seen that the nearerthe farm to the main canal, the water use wasabove optimum, and hence, it resulted in a fallin total farm income (negative additional income).Hence, for the nearer farms, the difference infarm income between the two groups can betaken as the value of water (Rs. 45,921/ha). Forthe distant farms, it is Rs. 2,961.

3. Non-Irrigation Uses

Naturally the proportion of sample populationwho depend on the canal, both for human andnon-human uses, decrease with distance fromthe release point as well as from the main canal.The farther the houses, the fewer the number ofpeople who benefit from the canal water. Theproportion of sample respondents who ownedwells was inversely related to the distance of theirresidence from the canal. The average volumeof water enjoyed by the respondents furtherconfirmed this. The volume per time of use (day)was the highest for the respondents who residedfarther away, as they have to fully depend onthe canal for all water requirements. (Own wells

were not there and the recharge was poor).However, the farmers towards the mid portionwere reluctant to use the canal water for humanuse, for fear of quality problems. So, it can beconcluded that the dependence on canal waterfor non-irrigation uses is skewed in favour ofhead region residents, that too within a distanceof 200 mts. on either side of the canal.


The human uses primarily include bathing andwashing of clothes, utensils, and vehicles.Multiplying the consumption level with MC, thevalue of water used for non-human purposes isestimated at Rs. 216/ year/ family, and for humanuse it is Rs. 293/ family/ year.


The water used for non-irrigation purposes isnot completely consumed in the process. But,quality losses occur. In this case, the benefit overalternate strategy (other than depending oncanal water) is taken as the value of irrigationwater. Thus, it is estimated at Rs.3024/year.

It was reported by the sample respondents inthe mid reach that they do not depend on thecanal water for human use, as the head reachresidents have already polluted it. However, thevalue of water for this purpose may beconsidered as equal to the foregone benefit ofmid and tail end farmers. (Rs.22 /day in midreach, and Rs.42/day in tail reach). Hence, theaverage value is estimated at Rs. 32/day i.e.,Rs. 4,058.46/ year.

Willingness to Pay

Of the total respondents (in all the groups), 16.2percent were not willing to pay for water, as theyfelt that water is a free gift of nature, like air.

Most of the respondents (84%), however,were ready to pay, though the extent of paymentand conditions varied. While 97 percent ofrespondents in the non-irr igation groupexpressed their willingness, 72 percent in theindirect use group (recharge) and 80 percent inthe direct irrigation group were willing to pay forthe water that they receive. This result is due tothe fact that domestic use was given more prioritythan irrigation. Though the respondents agreed

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that the recharge facility was due to the canalnetwork, the argument was that they are notdirectly using the canal water. However, 72percent were willing to pay.

More than 70 percent were ready to pay arate that was 25 percent higher than the existingrate of Rs.62/ ha if the supply was satisfactory.Only a meagre proportion (8.6%) wished to paythe existing rate. All of them are obviouslyresiding in the head portion of the canal system.Among the group who were willing to pay, 91.39percent of respondents expressed theirwillingness to pay for water if the supply isadequate and timely. This points out thechanging mindset of beneficiaries fromconsidering water as a free gift. As one movedfarther away from the origin of the canal system,people were ready to pay higher, even up toRs.153/ ha, under satisfactory conditions ofsupply. The user�s willingness to pay in this casevaries between the existing levels of Rs.62/ hato Rs.153/ ha, under ideal conditions of supply.

This points out to the need for creating waterliteracy - on its availability (present/ future), useand conservation. In a state like Kerala whereliteracy level is quite high, this task is easy. Onthe other hand, the water use pattern of thepeople of Kerala is to treat water as an abundantfree gift of nature.

Recommendations

· The escalating costs and delays in completionof major/ minor irrigation projects calls for ashift in policy in favour of micro irrigation projects.

· The policy shift in irrigation, in selection ofcrops in favour of farmer preferences andecosystem and sustainabil i ty is to beenvisaged. The prioritisation of paddy is tobe reviewed.

· Crop scheduling and forecasting in thecommand areas should be based on realisticstatement of water availability. Deviationsfrom suggested cropping patterns is to berestricted.

· The reasons for decline in irrigated areaacreage over the years should be assessedand actions must be initiated to prevent thesame in the future.

· Programmes for capacity building for all thestakeholders in the water sector, andprogrammes for complete water literacy areto be initiated urgently. The awareness is tobe created that water is an economic good,and all policy decisions on its supply,distribution and pricing are to be based onthis principle.

· Pricing is to be used as an effective tool inmanagement of water resources. Thedivergent objectives of efficiency and socialequity can be effectively managed throughappropriate pricing strategies.

· Valuation of water, based on its scarcity valueand level of use, should form the basis ofpricing decisions. As far as possible, pricingshould be based on volumetric measurement.

· Distributional inequality in the command areasshould be el iminated through pol icyintervention viz., water cess, for betterperformance of the irrigation projects in thelong run.

· Environmental consequences of overuse ofirrigation water and shifting cropping patternneed to be given prime emphasis in short-run and long-run strategies. For this, timelymonitoring and assessment is assential.

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Rural Water Resources Development, Planning andManagement Using GIS and Remote Sensing for PolicyMakingK S R Murthy Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

Introduction

Water is an important and scarce commonproperty resource, for which demand isincreasing day by day due to populationexplosion, increase in the living standards, andagriculture development. Irrigation is a techniqueof supplying suff icient water to reduceuncertainties associated with irregular rainfall,and to ensure cultivation of land otherwise notsuited for agriculture. Adequate irrigationfacilitates full use of the land under cultivationand increase in crop productivity due to sufficientsupply of water. Keeping in view the importanceof the agriculture sector in the Andhra PradeshState economy, much importance is given in theplans for the development of irrigation.

Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, witha total geographical area of is 5,837 sq. km isselected for the study. The average annualrainfall of the district calculated from the data of19 years is 1191.34 mm. The rainfall from Juneto October contributed by the south westmonsoon accounts for 81.5 percent of the annualrainfall. The principal rivers in the district areBahuda, Nagavali , Vamsadhara,Mahendratanaya, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavati,Gomukhi, and Champavathi. All the rivers areseasonal, except the Vamsadhara. Agricultureis the main occupation of the people of thisdistrict and about 80 percent of the populationdepends only on agriculture for their survival.Unfortunately, there is an acute shortage of waterfor irrigation in the district. Due to irrigation watershortage, people are migrating from their villagesin search of other employment to nearby towns.

Objectives


· Assess water resources - both surface (tanks,canals etc.) and sub-surface (groundwater) -

and carry out water balance studies foreffective planning and management of waterresources.

· Assess the impact of water quality on humanhealth using secondary data and to estimatethe cost of treatment/providing alternatewholesome water.

· Evaluate the existing tank conditions usingremote sensing and GIS and to make acomparative analysis between the cost-benefit involved in increasing the tankcapacities and exploitation of groundwater .

· Carry out economic valuation of water byprimary household surveys using theContingent Valuation Method (CVM).

Methodology

The study area is divided into threewatersheds namely, Peddagedda Watershed(PWS), Nagavali Watershed (NWS) andVamsadhara Watershed (VWS). As a watershedforms an ideal unit for hydrological studies, allthe objectives were explored watershed wise.The watersheds are divided on the basis ofdrainage pattern, stream order and the slope.Surface and groundwater irrigation are the onlysources of irrigation in these three watersheds.Due to water problems the farmers are slowlychanging the water source and also the croppingpattern from paddy to other crops, which requireless water.

Water Balance

The hydrological system is a complex systemthat maintains balance between precipitation,interception, evaporation, transpiration, run-off,infiltration, and other sub features like seepage,soil moisture, soil retention and stocks. Thephysical accounting of water and individual

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contributions of sources in Peddagedda,Nagavali and Vamsadhara watersheds wascarried out using a water balance approach. Therelationships between inputs viz., rainfall,interception, evapotranspirat ion, run-off,groundwater recharge, extractions and outflowsare studied in the water balance studies.

Secondary data regarding rainfal l ,temperature, irr igation pattern and othersocioeconomic data was collected block-wisefrom different State and Central governmentorganisations and this data was converted intoinformation for the individual watersheds.Information on the average monthly rainfall ofall the three watersheds for the year 1971�95was obtained from the National InformationCenter (Srikakulam), and on temperature,evapotranspiration, wind velocity was obtainedfrom the Indian Meteorological Departmentobservatory at Calingapatnam, Srikakulamdistrict, A.P. Intensive field surveys wereconducted to study the tanks in the threewatersheds, and farmers using the tanks wereinterviewed using a pre-tested structure tounderstand their perception on irrigation, waterand other socioeconomic aspects.

This study was carried out in four stages,starting from computation of rainfall to the totalextractions for irrigation, drinking, domestic andlivestock purposes. In the first phase, averageannual rainfall for the years 1971 � 95 in thewatersheds was calculated, while the amount ofrun-off into rivers, water stored in tanks, waterout flow through run-off was calculated in thesecond phase. In the third phase soil penetration,seepage losses, soil retention and groundwaterpercolation was calculated. Finally, in the fourthphase water extractions were calculated and thewater balance computed. The study was carriedout using the data till 1994-95, as the latest dataon watershed basis from 1994-95 are notavailable.

Water Quality

An attempt has been made to identify thegroundwater sources with nitrate and fluoridecontamination in Peddagedda, Nagavali andVamsadhara watersheds. As no secondary datais available for this watershed, water samplesfrom bore wells and open wells, which are

frequently used by the villagers for drinkingwater, were collected during November 1999. Inthis area, groundwater is recharged during themonsoon season and from irrigation fields aswell. Water levels in these wells range from 5 mto 8 m in the pre-monsoon period and 1 m to 3 min the post-monsoon period from the groundsurface. The groundwater flow is towards themain river. Chemical analysis of water sampleswas carried out for the above samples in thethree watersheds.

Tank Studies

In Andhra Pradesh, the north coastal districts-Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnamhave a large number of tanks. Vizianagaramdistrict has the largest number (9,895) followedby Srikakulam district (7,004). A large numberof tanks which used to irrigate a vast extent ofland in the past now face a serious siltingproblem, and a good number of potential tanksare now abandoned, either leaving theagriculture land under that tank as fallow ordecreasing the agriculture yield.

Remote Sensing

In view of the absence of reliable recordeddata on these tanks, it was felt essential to carryout a comparative analysis of the tanks on thebasis of the satellite data obtained for twoseasons of two different years i.e. 1989 (dry andwet season) and 1998 (dry and wet seasons).Indian Remote Sensing Satellite 1A, LISS IIdigital data for the year 1989 and IRS 1D LISSI data of 1998 were obtained from the NationalRemote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad. Thesedata were used to demarcate the variations inaerial extent of water spreads in the tanks overa decade. A total of 23 tanks with settledcommand areas of more than 100 acres wereselected from all the three watersheds. In orderto estimate the benefits of tank irrigation overrainfed irrigation, it was ensured that the sampledrawn had farmers who own both irrigated aswell as rainfed land.

Economics of Minor Irrigation Tanks

The input output data collected during farmsurveys was used to carry out the benefit costanalysis at the farmer level and project authority

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level. The gross returns per acre were computedtaking into consideration the value of the mainproduct as well as the by-product, which is mainlyfodder. The costs incurred per acre werecomputed by taking into consideration theexpenses incurred at every stage of farming,starting from ploughing to harvesting. On thebasis of land holding of individual farmersincluded in the sample, the weighted grossreturns were calculated. Similarly, the weightednet returns were also calculated. Thesecomputations were carried out for tank irrigatedland and rainfed land at village prices. The netbenefit to farmers from tank irrigated land is thedifference between the net income from tankirrigated land and that from rainfed land. Tocompute the cost-benefit ratio, the cost incurredto the farmer for tank irrigated land was taken asthe water tax prevalent in the study area.

Willingness to Pay for Irrigation

An attempt has been made to assess the levelof service required by the villagers in this areato meet their water demands and the extent oftheir participation in terms of willingness to payfor the services.

Villages from the three watersheds wereselected based on the statistical and GISanalysis. Cluster analysis technique was usedconsidering all the relevant village parameters.From all the three watersheds, fifty villages wereselected on the basis of number of households,size of the farmers, water facilities available andother socioeconomic characteristics.

A total of 622 sample households in all thethree watersheds were surveyed to study theirwillingness to pay for irrigation towards capitalexpenditure and maintenance. The per capitaland owned was found to be 1.15 acres.

A majority of the farmers in all the threewatersheds belong to backward community(87.15% in Peddagedda, 87.68% in Nagavali and97.68% in Vamsadhara). It was found that 61.46percent , 45.45 percent, 34.30 percent of farmersfall below the poverty line in three watershedsrespectively.

Results

Water Balance

From the water balance statistics, it was foundthat:

· in Peddagedda watershed the total waterstocks are 31,616.31hectare meter (ha-m),of which contribution by groundwater wasabout 13,409 ha-m., and 5,928 ha-m. wascontributed by tanks.

· the water consumption from tanks washighest (3,241 ha-m.) for irrigation, followedby groundwater.

· The stock in the river water was estimated tobe 12,278 ha-m. It was observed that thisriver water is going entirely waste as run-offinto the Bay of Bengal.

· In Nagavali watershed, the total stocks wereestimated at as 104,120 ha-m. including riverdischarge. The groundwater stocks weregreater, estimated to be 41,996 ha-m. Fromthe studies it was found that in this watershedthe maximum tank water (86%) is used forirrigation.

· Run-off in the rivers and streams wasestimated at as 29,732 ha-m. Very littlegroundwater (6,580 ha-m) was beingextracted for irrigation in this watershed.

· In Vamsadhara watershed, the total waterstocks were about 74,946 ha-m. Thegroundwater stock was estimated at as29,937 ha-m. The amount of water leavingthe watershed was about 22,692 ha-m.

· In all the three watersheds together, about64,702 ha-m. of water was going waste asrun-off.

About 95 percent of the farmers in thiswatershed are small farmers owning 0.5 to 1 acreland holding and they cannot afford the capitalcost to exploit groundwater. The results havebeen tabulated below in Table 1.

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Table 1: Total Water Consumption and Balance

Peddagedda Nagavali VamsadharaWatershed Watershed Watershed

Stocks

Surface water

Tanks 5928.5 ha-m 32392 ha-m 22317 ha-m

Rivers/ Streams 12278.31 ha-m 29732 ha-m 22692 ha-m

Ground water 13409.5 ha-m 41996 ha-m 29937 ha-m(excluding (excludingirrigation irrigationreturn flow) return flow)

Extractions

Surface water

Tanks 3241 ha-m 27745 +263* 18791* ha-m+262ha-m ha-m

Ground water

Tubewells & 2970 ha-m 6580 * ha-m +263* 5424 ha-m+262 ha-mDugwells

Outflow 12278.31 ha-m 29732 ha-m 22692 ha-m

Balance

Surface water

Tanks 2687.50 ha-m 4384 ha-m 1931.87 ha-m

Rivers/ Streams 12278.31 ha-m 0.00 ha-m

Ground water

10439.5 ha-m + 2563 35416 + 26436 24251 + 24889 ha-mha-m (recharge from ha-m (recharge (rechargeirrigation fields) from irrigation from irrigation

fields) fields)

* It is assumed that 50 percent of livestock

consumption is from groundwater sources and

50 percent from surface water source.

Water Quality

From the results, i t is clear that the

groundwater contains high values of either nitrate

or f luoride. The nitrate concentrat ion in

groundwater ranges between 25 and 145 mg/l,

while the tolerable limit is 45 mg/l, according to

World Health Organization standards. Out of 15

samples collected and analysed, 10 wells were

found to have excess nitrate concentration. The

cattle barns, which act as point sources for

nitrate, were reported as main sources for high

nitrate concentrations in the groundwater of

Vamsadhara watershed. The agricultural

practices and soil conditions in Peddagedda

watershed were found to be more or less similar

to the Vamsadhara watershed. Thus, the higher

concentrations of nitrate in Peddagedda are also

derived from animal wastes near cattle barns.

The following measures can be implemented

to prevent nitrate pollution:

· The unlined sewage system from various

houses in the villages should be lined to help

carry away the drainage water and to prevent

seepage which slowly degrades the

groundwater quality.

· Fertilizers should be used according to the

optimal requirements to prevent percolation

of fertilizers to groundwater.

· Abandoned wells should be closed to stop

waste dumping.

· Animals should be sheltered away from the

source of groundwater to prevent pollution

from animal waste.

Remote Sensing Analysis of Tanks

The study area has a number of tanks of

varying sizes. Lack of maintenance by way of

disiltation / distillation has been observed to be

the major problem with these tanks. As a result,

only those few farmers who can afford to invest

to tap groundwater are using it. A systematic

analysis of 23 tanks with command areas above

100 acres have been selected for the study from

all the three watersheds. These tanks were

analyzed for their present performance by

computing the performance indicators like

effectiveness ratio and deviation factors, as seen

below in Table 2.

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The results of the cost-benefit calculations at the farmers� level are presented in the following tables.Benefit-Cost Analysis was also done at the project authority level.

Table 3: Farmers� Benefit-Cost Ratio in Peddagedda Watershed(all costs and benefits in rupees)

Tank Net Benefits Ratio Increase in land value Ratio Benefits Due To Cost BCRNo. (per acre) (per acre) Tank Irrigation (per acre)

(2) (3) (2)/(3) (4) (5) (4)/(5) (6) (7) (6)/(7)

Tank Rainfed Tank RainfedIrrigated

PW1 3862.32 1970.13 1.96 72243.02 37344.47 1.93 1892.19 160.00 11.83

PW2 4509.61 1537.68 2.93 80271.54 41301.69 1.94 2971.93 160.00 18.57

PW3 4347.72 1325.49 3.28 78317.89 39073.98 2.00 3022.23 160.00 18.89

PW4 4208.39 753.92 5.58 89680.39 48535.00 1.85 3454.47 160.00 21.59

PW5 4788.61 1482.71 3.23 79536.02 38153.97 2.08 3305.90 160.00 20.66

PW6 5565.52 1746.92 3.19 82608.99 39615.02 2.09 3818.60 160.00 23.87

PW7 4210.77 1134.79 3.71 91642.30 42337.49 2.16 3075.98 160.00 19.22

PW8 4326.98 1157.03 3.74 88581.86 43350.29 2.04 3169.95 160.00 19.81

PW9 4193.63 1759.50 2.38 98271.69 49524.79 1.98 2434.13 160.00 15.21

PW10 5025.31 1488.72 3.38 76984.06 35950.76 2.14 3536.59 160.00 22.10

Table 2: Systematic Analysis of 23 tanks

S. No Tank Name Village Mandal Regd. Present Settled Present

Bed area bed area Command Command

(IRS data) (1/2) Area Area (4/5)

1 2 3 4 5 6

Peddagedda Watershed

PW1 Narayana Sagaram Budumuru Laveru 300.19 103.72 0.35 697.94 225.60 0.32

PW2 Devala Tank Bejjipuram Laveru 160.55 132.92 0.83 500 427.64 0.86

PW3 Raju Tank Punnam G. Sigadam 30 19.42 0.65 500 206.00 0.41

PW4 Lanka Tank Patharlapalli Ranasthalam 50 47.49 0.95 400 150.00 0.38

PW5 Daba Tank Chinna Murapaka Laveru 112.91 22.65 0.20 200 73.61 0.37

PW6 Nidigandlam Tank Adapaka Laveru 72 15.04 0.21 162 75.31 0.46

PW7 Pedda Tank Budatavalasa Laveru 49.4 19.49 0.39 150 63.87 0.43

PW8 Tammi Naidu Tank Peda Rompivalasa Laveru 43.2 18.53 0.43 140 57.23 0.41

PW9 Borra Patuvani Tank Batuva G. Sigadam 33.96 16.81 0.49 135 73.29 0.54

PW10 Pedda Tank Batuva G. Sigadam 40.14 24.72 0.62 133 92.80 0.70

Nagavali Watershed

NW1 Pedda Tank Shermohammad-puram Etcherla 160 96.1 0.60 312 153.04 0.49

NW2 Tamara Tank Siripuram Santakaviti 625 311.67 0.50 784 344.84 0.44

NW3 Mandavakuriti Tank Mandavakuriti Santakaviti 300 161.9 0.54 1600 673.08 0.42

NW4 Salavani Tank Seetampeta Ponduru 58 48.83 0.84 247 165.56 0.67

NW5 Meduri Krishnamma Tank Boddavalasa Rajam 66.66 38.31 0.57 300 121.13 0.40

NW6 C. R. Raju Tank Unukuru Vangara 92.74 79.1 0.85 204.7 164.15 0.80

NW7 Subbi Tank Arasada Vangara 82.69 78.46 0.95 307 251.13 0.82

NW8 Tamara Tank Ungarada R. Amadalavalasa 67 67 1.00 251 208.88 0.83

NW9 Gudivada Lumburu Palakonda 113 86.01 0.76 500 309.69 0.62

NW10 Yebbaji Tank Vadada Gara 125.8 106.78 0.85 670 412.69 0.62

Vamsadhara Watershed

VW1 Asarla Sagaram Temburu Saravakota 368.26 359.3 0.98 5400 3479.98 0.64

VW2 Ranga Sagaram Poppangi Saravakota 326.86 302.33 0.92 1920.68 1429.06 0.74

VW3 Pedda Tank Kottakota Sarubujjili 175 153.69 0.88 477.95 319.58 0.67

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Table 4: Farmers� Benefit-Cost Ratio in Nagavali and Vamsadhara Watersheds(all costs and benefits in rupees)

Tank Net Benefits Ratio Increase in land value Ratio Benefits Due To Cost BCRNo. (per acre) (per acre) Tank Irrigation

(2) (3) (2)/(3) (4) (5) (4)/(5) (6) (7) (6)/(7)

Tank Rainfed Tank RainfedIrrigated Irrigated

NWS1 5128.35 1952.85 2.63 92706.12 46930.59 1.89 3175.50 160.00 15.88

NWS2 3785.02 761.89 4.96 93071.18 40304.17 2.34 3023.13 160.00 15.11

NWS3 5498.75 1465.92 3.75 91450.32 49707.99 1.83 4032.83 160.00 18.09

NWS4 5002.23 1384.88 3.61 98982.74 52474.35 1.87 3617.35 160.00 18.09

NWS5 5097.36 1765.67 2.88 92783.14 41098.58 2.22 3331.69 160.00 16.65

NWS6 4901.45 1667.53 2.94 91618.34 44747.53 2.04 3233.92 160.00 20.21

NWS7 5926.42 1753.85 3.38 74886.31 37158.27 2.03 4172.57 160.00 26.08

NWS8 3680.53 1222.01 3.01 64470.33 25524.72 2.49 2458.52 160.00 15.37

NWS9 3054.39 1902.13 1.61 79986.27 46653.83 1.68 1152.26 160.00 7.20

NWS10 3502.82 1548.21 2.26 56522.23 23900.71 2.28 1954.61 160.00 12.22

VWS1 5616.37 2326.95 2.41 122723.74 57802.19 2.17 3289.42 160.00 16.45

VWS2 5074.49 1253.38 4.05 69687.00 34936.11 2.00 3821.11 160.00 19.11

VWS3 4814.89 1759.82 2.73 90378.90 49751.46 1.83 3055.07 160.00 15.26

Willingness to Pay

The contingent valuation method (BiddingTechnique) was used to elicit preferencefunctions for public supplies such as water, andwillingness to pay for the services (water supplyin the present context).

Table5: Willingness to Pay among all and onlypayers

% of willingness Willingness to Pay perto Pay positive sum HH (Rupees)

Among All AmongonlyPayers

Peddagedda Capital Cost 93 670 737

Maintenance 89 94 101

Nagavali Capital Cost 83 492 612


Vamsadhara Capital Cost 76 709 991


* Capital Cost per HH/only once and Maintenance cost is

per HH/year.

Based on the data obtained from the field surveyof 109 households from Peddagedda Watershed,341 households in Nagavali Watershed and 172households from Vamsadhara Watershed,statistical analysis for willingness to pay for irrigationhas been carried out.

The major findings based on the analysis ofwillingness to pay are summarized below:

· The average willingness to pay in the threewatersheds is Rs. 582/- towards capital costas one time payment and Rs. 50/- paid peracre/year/household. About 18 percent of therespondents expressed their inability to paydue to their low income. It is observed thatthe willingness to pay increases with theincrease in, land ownership from less than 1.5acres (Rs.388.57) to greater than 11 acres(Rs.873) per household.

· Variables such as total land owned, irrigationoutput, education, decrease in yield due tolack of water, decrease of water level in wellsare positively related in influencing thepeoples� willingness to pay for irrigation water.

· Variables such as size of the household,number of days in main occupation, age ofthe respondent, net income and water taxshowed negative relat ionships withwillingness to pay.

Policy Issues

· River water should be conserved properly byfollowing watershed management techniques,

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by constructing dams/ barrages/anicuts, andto preserve their reservoir capacities, suitablesoil conservation techniques should beenforced in al l the three watersheds.Desiltation works have to be carried out torestore the tank capacities and commandareas, wherever possible. The release ofwater from tanks is presently unrestricted inmost of the tanks. Hence, proper waterregulatory structures have to be constructedfor effective water management.

· All the tanks within a watershed should beconnected. Though most of the tanks areconnected in series by streams/canals, thecanals also need to be repaired. This helpsthe farmers not just in the command area ofa single tank, but also protects the riparianrights of the farmers in the downstream areasof the watershed. Since there are no majorirr igation projects in Peddagedda andNagavali watersheds, the construction of sucha canal network would be extremely beneficial

from the socio-economic as well asenvironmental aspects.

· Farmers should be trained in the balancedand efficient use of chemical fertilizers, bio-fertilizers, and about the environmentalproblems caused by excess use of them. Thewaste from catt le farms should notcontaminate its water sources.

· The water tax, according to present structure,is very low when compared to the financialresources required for maintenance of thetanks and in no way reflects the value ofscarce water resource. The main reason fornot increasing the fees is based on thepremise that the farmers may not be able tomeet the extra financial burden. Watercharges should be raised with the assuranceof water through the infrastructureimprovement. Volumetric pricing of waterinstead of crop-wise pricing would be morebeneficial and can control the wastage of water.

133

Participatory Approaches and Environmental andEconomic Impact: With Special Reference to IntegratedWatershed Development Project (IWDP), Hills-II, Jammuand Kashmir

Falendra K Sudan University of Jammu, Jammu

Introduction

Participatory policies are highly relevant, andare consistent with India�s overall developmentstrategy of reducing poverty, protecting theenvironment, developing human resources, andfostering farm sector growth. The experiencesso far show that unless the process throughwhich participation is to be secured is describedin detail and monitored, it is likely to be ignored -both because of a lack of commitment amongthe government staff, as well as a lack ofknowledge about the road map to the destination.The environmental and economic issues arehighly complicated in the watershed areas witha majority of the people surviving on a hand-to-mouth existence. The environmental andeconomic benefits accrued from watershedmanagement can be enhanced only when thepeople are ensured and equipped adequately tomake a socially acceptable living. Nevertheless,the achievement of these rests on theparticipation of the people at different stages ofthe programme.

Objectives

The short-run objectives of the study are to:

· Examine the participatory processes adoptedunder IWDP (Hills-II), Jammu and Kashmirwith special emphasis on methodologicalaspects of people�s participation, farmingsystem development approach, cost-sharingmechanisms, farming system technology,common property resource management andtraining needs and institutions.

· Study and analyse elements of successfulwatershed management e.g. level of people�sparticipation, gender equity, conservation ofnatural resources and mechanisms ofdistribution of benefits.

· Assess individual and groups of farmers�contributions to watershed development andprotection, and environmental and economicbenefits there from.

· Find out the transaction costs involved inevolving and operationalising participatoryprocesses and costs involved in implementingvarious project interventions.

The long-run objectives of the study are to:

· Document the experiences of participatoryapproaches in watershed management, itsconstraints and lessons learned.

· Develop and recommend suitable policyguidelines to strengthen people�s participationand minimise the transaction costs inwatershed management.

Hypotheses

The hypotheses tested during the course of thestudy are:

· Watershed development can improve naturalresource management and agriculturalproductivity in rainfed areas, but their successcontinues to be limited by the extent ofpeople�s participation.

· The project interventions seeking to enhancethe expected benefits to people, or reduce theexpected costs, are likely to elicit strongerpeoples� participation.

· A reduction in the transaction costs canincrease the efficiency and sustainability ofparticipatory processes by increasing thepotential net gains in terms of environmentaland economic outcomes.

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Study Area and Methodology

The primary data was collected using well-structured and pre-tested questionnaires,participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniquesand group meetings. The study has generateddata on four sets of variables: participatoryprocesses, the transaction costs, andenvironmental and economic issues. Wheneverpossible and required, secondary data sourceswere also utilised. To evaluate participatoryprocesses, three Vil lage DevelopmentCommittees (VDCs) from each sub-watershed,namely Akhnoor and Ramnagar were recovered.Therefore, a total of six VDCs were selected withthe consultation of project functionaries at thesub-watershed level. In the non-beneficiarycategory, 6 sample villages were selected on arandom basis, each 20-25 km away from thesampled micro-watersheds villages (i.e., IWDParea). Stratified sampling technique was usedto select villages (where VDCs have beencreated, as well as IWDP and non-IWDPvillages). During the stratification, care was takento include villages in both forested watershedsand agricultural watersheds in order to make acomparative study. For the collection of primarydata, a purposive sample of approximately 20percent of household level respondents in IWDPand non-IWDP areas and all the members ofVDCs were covered.

Data and Data Analysis

The primary data was col lected fromhousehold level respondents, members of VDCs,and user groups, project functionaries and otherstakeholders. The secondary data, wheneverrequired, was col lected from the projectauthorities and the government/non-governmentagencies. The data related to the transactioncosts involved in evolving and operationalisingparticipatory processes as well as the costs ofvarious project interventions, was utilised andcollected from the project functionaries at thesub-watershed level and vi l lage levelstakeholders. The general description of socio-economic, institutional context and technicalaspects of the participatory processes werecomparatively presented by using descriptivestatistics. The content analysis technique wasused to analyse the data and informationqualitatively and quantitatively (using descriptive

statist ics). Factor analysis and mult ipleregression techniques were used to analysesocial and economic dimensions of participation.Besides the above, the study also used Ostrom�smodel �Crafting Institutions for CPR� to evaluatethe participatory processes and their impact.

Results

I. Participatory Processes

In order to operationalise the institutionalarrangement, the fol lowing part icipatoryprocesses were followed, with minor variationsacross the forested and agricultural watershedsin the project area.

Preparatory activities: At the beginning ofthe project, a period of three to six months wasdevoted to preparatory activities, which included:review of exist ing information, tentativeidentification of the communities and sites in theproject area, and preliminary visits to the short-listed local communities.

Reviewing existing information:Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) exerciseswere conducted to assess the local situation andidentify the most important and urgent goals tobe pursued through participatory action. Anotherobjective was to collect additional and moredetailed information on the local environmentaland socio-economic setting, according to thelocal perception.

Shorter meetings and formation of groups:PRA ended with a series of shorter meetings,followed by formation of village developmentcommittees (VDCs) and user groups. The mainactivities carried out during these meetings wereas follows: feedback of PRA information tocommunit ies; identi f ication, analysis andpriorit isation of problems by participants;identification of solutions; and drafting of atentative action plan.

Participatory feasibility analysis: Projectmanagement and f ield staff reviewedparticipating community members� ideas foraction that were developed during theparticipatory planning meetings, with the aim ofassessing the feasibility of the proposed actionin the light of the existing conditions.

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Operational agreements and groupstrengthening: Following the feasibility study,operational agreements for implementing theactivity were made. Strengthening VDCs anduser groups and meeting basic needs figuredprominently at the beginning of the participatoryand integrated watershed managementprocess, whereas later, attention progressivelyshifted towards environmental issues. Projectfield staff assisted user groups in such areasas organising and conducting meetings, defininggroup constitutions and keeping records.

Participatory monitoring: Participatorymonitoring consisted of the continued follow-upof the organisational and technical aspects ofimplementat ion. The local part ic ipantsconducted it, with some support from projectstaff. Participatory monitoring paralleled theimplementation process and was intended toenable participants and staff to conduct thefollowing tasks: assess the progress made inimplementation; identify and address difficultiesand constraints in implementation; and revisethe implementation plans accordingly.

Participatory evaluation: Participatoryevaluation aims at extracting the lessons fromthe implementation experience. Participantsand staff conducted this exercise throughinteractive techniques. It strives to identify boththe positive and negative aspects of the workcompleted and to provide suggestions for futureplans.

Promoting forums for collaboration: Theproject helped local government and non-government agencies to strengthen the planningstrategies and included these strategicelements of part ic ipatory and integratedwatershed management.

II. Methodological Aspects of Participation

At the initial stages of the second phase ofIWDP (Hills-II), the village panchayats werenon-existent and elections for panchayats tookplace later in the year 2001. Therefore, projectsformed separate committees in order tooperat ional ise part ic ipatory watershedmanagement.

Formation of vi l lage developmentcommittees (VDCs): In the presence of villagecommunities, project field staffs formed theVDCs by adopting the process of selection ofthe members of VDCs. Mandatory gender anddisadvantaged groups� representation wereensured.

Membership procedure: Membershipprocedure was rigid in most of the cases. Nochange in VDCs membership took place oncethe VDCs were formed by selection.

Women participation: At least 2-3 womenwere made members of the managingcommittee. A majority of the women VDCsmembers were in the age group of 30-45 withpoor educational attainment. Their participationin VDCs has been veiled and passive and toorestricted to facilitate dynamic and vibrantparticipation.

Meetings: Every VDC convened a monthlymeeting as a routine affair to discuss theproblems confronting watershed management.In some cases, fortnightly meetings of ExecutiveCommittee (EC) also took place to discuss thepertaining issues.

Decision-making: In most of the cases,decisions were taken by a majority vote, althoughcases were also reported where influentialmembers got their decision enforced, whereasin some cases decisions were taken at thebehest of project functionaries.

Preparation of village development plan(VDP): VDCs were responsib le for thepreparation of a VDP based on demands andpr ior i t ies put forward by the v i l lagecommunities. After preparation of VDPs, ageneral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)would be signed with the President andSecretary of the VDC, which highlighted theroles and responsibilities of the VDC as well asthe project staff.

Financial management: The system offinancial management adopted by the VDCs hasnot been satisfactory. Joint bank accounts wereopened for most of the VDCs. VDCs weresupposed to maintain record of all transactions.However, the IWDP was reportedly playing a

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major decisive role in utilisation of funds andkeeping the records of all transactions in thename of VDCs.

Interaction with project functionaries:There was a lack of development of morebalanced partnerships between IWDPfunctionaries and VDCs, which is reflected in theimbalance in power and control between IWDPand VDC. The project has not made any attemptto give a legal status to the VDCs created andnone of the VDCs had been registered so far.

Interaction with other agencies: One of thepurposes of VDC creation was to encourageforward and backward linkages between thevillagers and the development agencies. VDCshave interacted with local non-governmentorganisations (NGOs) on the issues l ikeorganising, initial guidance and capacity building,which have been facilitated by the IWDP.

III. Social and Economic Dimensions ofParticipation

The factor analysis yielded two factors viz.social and economic, which reveals thedimensionality of participation. In the socialfactor, all coefficients related to meetingsdominated. In the economic factor, thecoefficients related to economic aspects ofparticipation dominated. On the combined level,there was a clear division of the participatorychoice into two components, where socialconsiderations are most important, andeconomic considerations constitute the secondmain important factor. Regression outcomes arequite diverse for the institutional settings, butsome general patterns are apparent. The levelof resources is always positively linked toparticipation, and significantly in eight out oftwelve cases. This shows that participation isenhanced when people perceive their resourceas being of a good quality. A similar conclusioncan be drawn for the forest dependence. Thislink is also positive in all cases, and significantlyso in ten out of twelve cases, meaning that highdependency on common resources stimulatespeople�s participation in watershed management.Better resources and increased dependency onthe common resource lead to a higher level ofparticipation.

IV. Cost Sharing Arrangements

Over the period, the idea of cost sharing hasgained momentum, and beneficiaries�contribution has shown an increasing trend. In1999-2000, 14.2 percent of the project cost onrainfed crop demonstration was shared by thebeneficiaries, which increased to 36.3 percentin 2000-2001, and declined marginally thereafterto 34.2 percent in 2001-2002. In 2000-2001, thescheme of provisioning of vegetable kits wasimplemented in a big way, for which beneficiariescontributed approximately 34.1 percent of theproject cost. The beneficiaries shared as highas 56.8 percent of the cost of constructingvegetative field boundaries and 76.8 percenttowards rainfed horticultural demonstrations.

V. Benefit Sharing Arrangements

The pastoral households have beenencouraged to form groups to manage thepastures in a sustainable manner. A memberpastoral household was permitted to graze 30sheep/goats and 10 buffaloes on a commonpasture. A system of user fee per extra animalwas put in place, which varies across the projectarea and was decided by the user groupsthemselves. The funds so raised were depositedin a common fund used by the group to meetcontingencies such as expenses on animalhealth services.

In the case of forest user groups, there wasa complete ban on entry into the protected forestsfor one year, so that the resources regenerate.Only the members were permitted to reap thebenefits from the regenerated and protectedforests. An individual member was permitted tocarry one head load of dry fuel wood perhousehold per week from CPRs for a family offive persons, and in case the family size wasmore than five persons, they were permitted twohead loads of fuel wood per household per week.The members had to ensure that the weight of ahead load of dry fuel wood did not exceed theagreed norms of 10 kg. Fodder user groups werealso created for rational use of fodder during therainy season (mostly July to September) eachyear. An individual member of the fodder usergroups was permitted to carry one head load of20 kg. of green fodder per household per day.

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VI. Training Needs and Institutions

Farmers were trained on biophysical aspectsof watershed development. Extension activity,viz., farmers� fairs, field trips and exposure visitshave provided excellent opportunities for theproject officials to elaborately orient the farmersabout the details of watershed management.These activities were planned and organised atthe sub-watershed level by the extension wingof the project. The impact of farmers training wasvisible in increased production levels, which werealmost stagnant for many years. Likewise, othertraining inputs have resulted in improvedperformance in production and productivity. Thetraining in the development of peoples�organisation seems minimal, although VDCs anduser groups are indeed covered.

VII. Common Property Resource Management

IWDP in association with VDCs/user groupshas indirectly created assets by closing degradedforestland and village common lands (VCLs).Water user associations (WUAs) have beeninvolved in repair, maintenance andimprovement of the physical structures, as wellas water management within the sub-watershedon a cost-sharing basis mainly in the form ofvoluntary free labour. IWDP provided the fundsand supervised the entire work. WUAs along withVDCs undertook the responsibility for repairingthe water harvesting structures, the branch anddistribution channels up to the outlets, as thecase may be. The users were motivated toconstruct field channels beyond this level and tomake necessary land levelling improvements,and other on-farm works.

VIII. Environmental-Economic Impact

The environmental-economic impact ofparticipatory approaches adopted under IWDP(Hills-II) are highlighted as under:

Reduction in runoff water and sedimentyield: The effect of regeneration of vegetation,a long wi th so i l and water conservat ionmeasures on hill-slopes and wastelands wassubstantial. In the Shivaliks, the run-off soilloss on barren hills was 23. 70 tons in thebaseline period, which fell to 9.65 tons perhectare after treatment. The progressivereduction in soil loss and sediment yield, as a

result of quick recovery of vegetation on hill-slopes and lands adjoining the foothills, hasresulted in improving surface and ground waterregime of the selected sub-watersheds.

Augmentation of ground-surface- waterresources: Status of water resources in termsof average number of natural water points,gravity based water points, hand pumps andwater harvesting structures per village haveimproved considerably with project intervention.With increased water potential, the area underirrigated cropping increased significantly.However, marked differences in irrigationintensity have been noticed. The differences inirrigation intensity were 2.9 percent and 13.1percent respectively, in forested and agriculturalsub-watersheds in the project area with VDC andwithout VDC, and differences in irrigationintensity in the project area with VDC and non-project area was very glaring.

Increase in crop productivity and croppingintensity: As a result of the improved soilmoisture regime, the increase in irrigationresources and use of fertilizers (including cow-dung), the cropping intensity has improved in theIWDP area compared to non-IWDP area. Theproductivity of selected crops is comparativelyhigher in agricultural sub-watersheds thanforested sub-watersheds. The yield differencebetween IWDP area with VDC and non- IWDParea was 2.1 quintals, 0.8 quintals, 0.64 quintalsand 1.36 quintals per hectare; and 2.2 quintals,1.7 quintals, 0.5 quintals, and 2.1 quintals perhectare respectively for maize, paddy, pulses,and wheat in forested and agriculturalwatersheds.

Change in livestock composition andincrease in yield: Households have beenprogressively reducing holding of droughtanimals and increasing their stock of milchanimals, which has resulted in significantchanges in the composition of cattle population.In the forested watershed, the difference in theaverage number of milch animals in IWDP areawith VDC and without VDC was 0.4, whereas inthe agricultural watershed, the difference inIWDP area without VDC and non- IWDP areawas 4.0. A significant differential in milk yield wasobserved between IWDP area and non-IWDParea. The difference in milk yield of cows and

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buffalo stood at 1.0 kg and 1.31 kg respectively.Similarly, wool yield was as high as 3.1 kg persheep in the forested watershed and 2.4 kg persheep in the agricultural watershed in the projectarea with VDC, whereas in the non-project area,it was comparatively low at 1 kg and 0.8 kgrespectively.

Decline in animal grazing on CPRs: Beforeintervention through IWDP, on an average morethan 7 animals per households were grazed onCPRs in the forested watershed and about 6animals per household in the agriculturalwatershed. After project intervention, theaverage number of livestock grazed on CPRsdeclined to less than 4, and such a decline is inthe range of 38 percent to 52 percent, the lowestin the agricultural watershed and highest in theforested watershed. The decline in number ofanimal grazing days has also been reported - inthe range of 48 days to 51 days in the projectarea with institutional arrangements, and 40 daysto 42 days in the project area without institutionalarrangement.

Increase in fodder production: The IWDParea with VDC has shown a remarkableperformance in terms of both green and dryfodder productions. The difference betweenfodder yield between the IWDP area with VDCand non-IWDP area was as high as 95 kg and245 kg of green fodder and 26 kg and 23.4 kg ofdry fodder respectively in forested andagricultural watersheds.

Food security and wage employment:IWDP was not able to provide food security inagricultural watersheds, and a significantproportion of the households are facing foodinsecurity spread over six months to a year,which is to be mitigated by providing alternativelivelihood strategies. In IWDP area with VDC,wage employment is available to about 40percent and 54 percent of respondents for anextended period of 6 months a year in forestedand agricultural watersheds respectively. In theIWDP area without VDC and non-IWDP area,wage employment is available to about one-fourth and one-f i f th of the respondentsrespectively for more than 6 months a year.Thus, project interventions have generated muchneeded wage employment and supplemented thelivelihood strategies of the rural poor.

Collection of CPR products: With projectintervention, the fuel wood and fodder collectedfrom CPRs for household consumption hasdeclined very sharply. The decline in fuel woodcollected from CPRs was approximately 51.95percent and 60.86 percent respectively inforested and agricultural sub-watersheds in theproject area with VDC, and 20.86 percent and49.58 percent respectively in the project areawithout VDC. More or less, a similar trend isnoticed for fodder and non-timber productscollected from CPRs.

Decline in consumption of fuel wood: Thedecline in average fuel wood consumption wasreportedly higher in the project area than in thenon-project area. On an average, the decline infuel wood consumption was 44.22 percent and46.13 percent; and 37.83 percent and 40.18percent respectively in forested and agriculturalwatersheds in the project area with VDC andwithout VDC.

Benefit-cost ratio: The livestock interventionhas the highest benefit-cost ratio, and in case ofsheep rearing, the benefit-cost ratio is estimatedat 1.66. Project intervention in rainfed cropdemonstration has a low benefit-cost ratio andintervention on CPR closures, plantations, etc.has a high negative benefit-cost ratio of 2.79.This is due to the fact that CPRs were mainlyclosed for regeneration and even the benefits,which the beneficiaries were driving beforeproject intervention, were not accruing to themdue to strict enforcement of rules by the VDCs.On the whole, the benefit-cost ratio is estimatedat 1.9, which is very significant.

IX. Transaction Costs

The average transaction costs incurred indecision-making for resource allocation andestablishment of institutional structure and itsmaintenance has been estimated as Rs.75.5 andRs.225.5 respectively. The difference betweenaverage ex-ante and ex-post transaction costsis estimated at Rs.99 per beneficiary. Individualresource users have incurred a very hightransaction cost on attending meetings, followedby travel costs, which are estimated at Rs.60 andRs.52 in forested and agricultural sub-watersheds respectively. Average transactioncost incurred on establishment of WUA is

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estimated at Rs.33.5, which is comparativelyhigher than the transaction costs incurred ondevelopment and maintenance of irrigationinfrastructure i.e. Rs.21. Thus, the participatoryapproach in water management has contributedin minimising transaction costs.

Policy Recommendations

The following suggestions should be takeninto account while initiating and operationalisingparticipatory process in watershed managementto maximise environmental-economic impact andto minimise transaction costs.

· In the future, linkages need to be establishedwhich should make user groups independentof project support. There is a need to transferall the operation and maintenance functionsto the user groups. Under IWDP (Hills-II), thepolicies are best geared to the improvedmanagement of enclosed VCLs, forests,grazing lands, water harvesting structures,gravity based irrigation channels, and otherresource conservation and protectionactivities. Policy changes are imperative forbetter trade-offs between environmentalprotection and poverty reduction.

· It is suggested that the poor villagers berecognised not only as beneficiaries of theparticipatory resource management, but alsoas stakeholders in real practice, and that theybe provided the opportunities to participatenot only in the conservation and protectionphase, but equally in the pre-project phasealso. This wil l help realize the goal ofminimisation of transaction costs. All fundingof these activities should be directly handedover to these farmers� groups, once they areformed and trained in handling and managingthe funds.

· It would be advantageous to include farmingsystem-zoning exercise in the pre-projectstage to identify homogenous areas forproject interventions. The agricultural wing ofthe project along with VDCs should play asignificant role in carrying out farming

systems zoning exercise, so that differentproject interventions could be implementedin a hol ist ic manner. Directly incomegenerating activities like dairy and poultrykeeping, agro-forestry, horticulture andvegetable farming should be given moreimportance over the construction of purelyengineering structures for water harvestingand soil conservation.

· In order to facilitate the participation of womenuser-groups in the decision making process,the objectives of the project implementingagency and the plans for intervention in thewatershed should be made available to themfrom the very beginning. In addition, theseplans should be discussed separately with thewomen in smaller groups to obtain theviewpoints of different categories of resourceusers.

· Beneficiaries� contributions will become anecessary condition to ensure that people�sparticipation is genuine. It can also pave theway for beneficiaries to make largercontribution to the cost, reducing the financialburden on the development agencies. Theprinciple of �users must pay� can, over aperiod, be extended to the principle �paymentof cost should depend upon the extent ofbenefit�.

· For watershed programmes to be sustainable,local institutions need to be strong andeffective. The training meant for grassrootsorganisations should deal with the formationand structure of village institutions, usergroups and water users associations; theirroles and responsibilities; and account-keeping and financial management. Thereshould also be technical training on the rangeof physical aspects of watersheddevelopment and management (soil andwater conservation, water harvesting,afforestation, water-supply systems andanimal husbandry) with a view to buildinsti tut ions that can make watershedmanagement programmes sustainable.

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Designing Methodologies for Evaluation of Economic andEnvironmental Implications of Groundwater Depletionand Quality Degradation Effects: A Study in KarnatakaPeninsular India

N Nagaraj and H. Chandrashekar University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore

Introduction

Groundwater as a source of irrigation hasgained considerable prominence in the waterstarved semi-ar id regions of Karnataka.Currently, around 55 percent of total irrigationin the state is through groundwater. In Tumkurdistrict, the study area, total irrigation throughgroundwater is over 73 percent. Farmersabstract water from dug-wells, dug-cum-borewells, shallow and deep bore wells, the numbersof which have grown exponentially since the1960�s. As a result, many parts of the statewhere there is no assured source of perennialirrigation, are experiencing increasing signs ofhardship due to over-exploi tat ion ofgroundwater. This has created severeimbalance between extraction and rechargeleading to depletion.

The groundwater scarcity has not onlyexhausted the available groundwater supply, buthas also impaired its quality. Of late, waterquality issues from point and non-point pollutingsources are increasingly causing environmentalconcern as groundwater serves many purposes.

Objectives


· Devise a framework and typology forevaluating sustainability, efficiency and equityissues concerning groundwater overdraft andquali ty degradation in dif ferent waterexploitation regimes.

· Evaluate the economic consequences ofgroundwater depletion on food security andsustainability.

· Analyze the economics of conjunctive use ofgroundwater and surface water resources inameliorating quantitative and qualitativedepletion of groundwater.

· Study the economics of alternative optionsthat reduce the environmental problemsassociated with groundwater irrigation.

· Study the groundwater regulation in the state,and examine the relationship with otherinstitutions such as land reforms, creditsystem, electricity reforms and markets.

Data Base

The study was undertaken in Tumkur district,a typical hard rock area in Karnataka, as it hasthe maximum number of dark blocksrepresenting overexploitation. In the samedistrict, areas having access to canal and tankirrigation have been selected to study the effectof conjunctive use on groundwater overdraft.Secondly, in order to analyse the economic andenvironmental implications of groundwaterquality on agricultural production, human andlivestock health, and surrounding ecology,Vrishibavathi Valley in Bangalore rural district,where groundwater pollution is a seriousproblem, has been selected. Based on PRAsurvey and personal interviews, a sample of 35farmers from each of these three areas having -groundwater irrigation (GW), tank irrigationsupplemented with groundwater (CUTI), andcanal irrigation supplemented with groundwater(CUCI) - were drawn for empirical analysis tostudy the case of groundwater depletion. Toaddress water quality issues, a sample size of30 farmers in the affected area, and as a control,a sample of 30 farmers in the normal area, weredrawn for empirical analysis.

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Methodology

Indicators

The physical indicators used in sustainabilityanalysis are:

· Well density

· Well age

· Yield of irrigation wells

· Area irrigated per well

· Water extracted per annum

· Rate of well failures

· Reduced yield of water from the wells

· Increased depth of irrigation wells

· Replacement of pump with higher capacity.

Adoption of coping mechanisms includes drip/sprinkler, crop pattern changes, and distortionin balance of food and non-food crop area.

The economic indicators of sustainability /unsustainability used in the study include:

· Increased cost of the well deepening.

· Increased cost of extraction of groundwater.

· Investment on additional wells.

Physical efficiency was analyzed in terms ofoutput per acre-inch of water used, whileeconomic efficiency of water use was analyzedin terms of net income per acre-inch of water,estimation of marginal value product of waterthrough residual method, net returns per acre ofgross irrigated area considering irrigation cost,net returns/per acre inch of water and benefitcost ratio for different crop enterprises. Economicefficiency measures in the conjunctive usesystem cannot fully reflect the resource cost, asit involves public and private investments. Whileprivate investment can be included, publicinvestment, which largely comes as a subsidy,is not accounted. Hence, economic efficiencyindicators are quasi indicators of the true costsince only groundwater costs are included, whilethat of tank and canal water is not. The cost ofgroundwater in conjunctive systems is lower than

a pure groundwater system due to the positiveexternality of recharge from tanks/canals. Foranalyzing equity, measures such as wells ownedby different categories of farmers, area operatedby them, and irrigation cost and proportion ofwater extracted were considered. In addition,Lorenz curve and Gini coeff icients wereestimated to assess the extent of inequality ingroundwater irrigation.

Partial budgeting technique is used toevaluate the economic feasibility of adoption ofdrip system of irrigation (conservation) overdrilling an additional well (depletion). Discountedcash flow techniques are used to evaluate theappraisal of investment on drip system versusan additional well, following flow method ofirrigation for coconut gardens.

The empirical framework to assess the impactof water quality problems includes change in cropproductivi ty, loss of earnings, avertableexpenditure, replacement and transaction cost.The land degradation ratio was used to estimatethe percentage of area lost due to the poor qualityof water. Partial budgeting technique wasemployed to evaluate the economic feasibility ofameliorating strategies.

Results

Impact of Groundwater Depletion

The average life of a bore well in the GWsystem for the past two decades (1980s to 2000)has decreased from 11 years to 3 years, whereasthe bore wells under conjunctive use systemshave served more than 15 years. This situationwarrants concerted efforts to recharge the watertable to sustain the irrigated agriculture.

Between 1985 to 2001, temporal indicatorssuch as increased depth of water table (from 80feet to 496 feet), decreasing groundwaterdischarge (from 3,500 to 800 gallons/hr)increased irrigation pump capacity (3 to 7.5 HP),premature failure of wells, increased depth ofplacement of pump from the top (80 ft to 230 ft)are physical indicators of overexploitation ofgroundwater. The increased investment on borewells (from Rs.34,460 per well during 1985 toRs.74,190 in 2001), additional deepening cost

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involved in rejuvenating failed bore wells(Rs.17,880 during 2001), increased investmenton additional wells (Rs.15,000 in 1985 toRs. 35,290 during 2001), increased expenditureon pump repairs (from Rs. I,000 in 1985 to Rs.4,000 during 2001), cost of pump replacement(Rs.I0,000 in 2001) were found to be the partialindicators, where rise in cost of labor and capitalcost could also have played a role.

Sustainability

The implications of groundwateroverexploitation include increased depth towater-table due to competitive deepening,reduced life of all types of wells, high rate of initialwell failures, reduced gross irrigated area perwell, reduced groundwater output and increasedcosts of well drilling and repairs to pump-sets.This has severe implications on equity. Theproportion of failed wells out of all the wells isover 50 percent. Dug-wells are completely infructuous in the GW system, and only 14 percentof the dug-cum-bore wells were functioning. Allthe bore wells and dug-cum-bore wells areproductive, and nearly 60 percent of the dug-wells were functional in the conjunctive usesystems. The spatial indicators of sustainabilitysuch as density of wells per unit of holding size,varied from one well for every two acres in theGW system to one well for every five acres inCUTI and CUCI systems. This implies the extentof spread of bore wells and acuteness of thewater scarcity. Though the increase in thenumber of wells in the GW system indicateswider access, the resource needed to own a wellis beyond the reach of the small and marginalfarmer. The cost per acre-inch of groundwater(Rs. 264) in the GW system is nearly two timeshigher than CUTI and in CUCI system.

Efficiency

In terms of physical efficiency, the GW systemis more efficient compared to the other twosystems, which is mainly due to scarcity of theresource. On the other hand, measures used tocapture economic efficiency are not in favor ofthe GW system indicating the high cost ofirrigation. In the GW system, there has beenupward trend in the annual maintenance andrepairs costs, and the electricity charges due to

the high pump capacity and increasing depth ofthe bore wells. In the case of CUTI and CUCI,the annual cost of groundwater irrigation and thecost per acre-inch of water have been constantdue to positive interaction effects of recharge.The physical scarcity in terms of decreasedwater yield from the wells and economic scarcityin terms of rise in irrigation cost per acre-inch inGW is evident. With regard to efficiency, themeasures adopted do not fully value the water,especially in the conjunctive use systems, sincethe conjunctive use systems considered in thestudy involve both private and publicinvestments. As public investments suffer fromsubsidy distortions, the true value of water doesnot reflect its marginal cost. Besides, overapplication of water leading to inefficiency isevident in most of the tank and command areabecause of poor pricing of water not reflectingits scarcity value. Notwithstanding theselimitat ions, the above measures havesuccessfully reflected the ground realities.

Equity

With respect to equity, out of the totalirrigation wells, medium and large togethercomprising of 69 percent of total farmers owned80 percent of the wells. Similarly, 88 percent ofthe wells in the gross irrigated area wereoperated by medium and large farmers. Thisclearly ref lects the inequity persist ing ingroundwater irrigation, in addition to existinginequity in landholding distribution. This skeweddistribution of wells and lopsided irrigated areain the groundwater system, revealed thatresource rich farmers have better access to thegroundwater in areas where groundwater isscarce. Both temporal and spatial inequitiespersist in overexploited areas. The measuresformulated to analyze equity have fairly capturedthe extent of inequity in the study area. The studyfurther draws the attention of policy makers toprovide / offer policy support for small andmarginal farmers through different programs.

Cropping Pattern

Area under non-food crops is growing at thecompound growth rate of 4 percent per annum,whereas area under food crops is declining atthe rate of one percent per annum in the study

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area. The analyses at the household levelindicate that most households invariably allocatea large proportion of their dry land to food crops,which take care of household food security.Though perennial crops dominate in irrigatedtracts, the impact of GW depletion on foodsecurity is not discernible with the primary data.

The negative externalities in well irrigation,especial ly in the overexploited area, ismanifested in terms of increased investments ondrilling deeper wells, colossal investment lossdue to cumulative well failures, and increasedinvestments in coping mechanisms.

Coping Mechanisms

In response to physical scarcity ofgroundwater, various coping mechanismsadopted include well improvement l ikedeepening, drilling additional wells, transfer ofwater from source to far off places, adopting dripirrigation system, buying water and shift in croppattern in favor of coconut. The first three copingmechanisms like drilling additional well (s), wellimprovement (deepening) and adoption of dripirrigation, which are capital intensive, aregenerally adopted by large farmers. The copingmechanisms, such as adoption of indigenousdrip system and buying water, which are lesscapital intensive, are largely adopted by smalland medium farmers.

On an average, the drip system requires aninvestment, which is half the investment on anadditional well. The associated benefits includeabout 44 per cent saving in water, additionalimprovement in yield of about 20 percent andhigh water use efficiency. The partial budgetinganalysis of drip adoption over flow method withan additional well proved the economic feasibilityof drip irrigation. Further, the economic measuresof IRR (36% for drip irrigation with existing welland 33% for flow irrigation with additional well),NPV (Rs.1.12 lakhs for drip irrigation and 0.45lakhs for flow irrigation) and BCR (1.9 for dripirrigation and 1.5 for flow irrigation) indicated thatthe investment on drip irrigation is economicallyfeasible. Although in both the cases theinvestment is feasible, from the viewpoint ofconservation of the resource for present andfuture development, drip irrigation is desirable.

Conjunctive use systems faci l i tatedrealization of higher incomes over the GWsystem due to recharge of wells, which decreasethe failure of wells. The groundwater rechargecould be experienced both in terms of physicalas well as economical impacts. Increased welllife, negligible well failure, increase in the wateryield of the wells and higher crop diversity aresome of the main physical impacts of theconjunctive use in the CUCI and CUTI areas.The economical impacts are negligible with littleor no investment on the coping mechanisms likedrilling additional wells, deepening of wells andadoption of the drip system. The farmers willhave the advantage of lower irrigation cost andhigher income from their irrigated lands. Thus,the conjunctive use of surface and groundwaterhad a positive effect on sustainability of thegroundwater promoting intra andintergenerational equity.

The flat rate policy has virtually doubled theuse of electrical power for irrigation in Karnataka.Electricity charges on pro-rata @ Rs.1 per kwhfor a 5 HP pump, were approximately Rs.6,750per well per annum, while on a flat rate basisfarmers currently pay around Rs.1,500, which isalmost 4 times lower. The difference in theelectricity charge was the implicit cost to society,which was not accounted by the private wellowners. The marginal productivity of water suggestspricing of electricity for lifting groundwater on amodest scale to restrain overdraft.

Water Quality-Environmental Implications

About 22 percent of the open wells and 80percent of the drinking water wells wereabandoned due to groundwater pollution. Thepercentage of land degraded was 58 and 61percent for small and large farmers respectively,while it was 100 percent for marginal farmers.Land degradation ratio revealed that 18.5 percentof the cultivable area was lost due to use of �poor�quality water. Due to land degradation, land valuedipped by 50 percent compared to normal land.The productivity of paddy and sugarcane withpoor quality water declined over the years. Thegrowth rate in the yield of paddy (-6.28 ) andsugarcane (-3.8) has been declining affecting

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sustainability. Due to the use of �poor� qualitygroundwater, farmers were forced to incur extracost for the production of paddy and sugarcane.This negative external i ty cost for paddyproduction formed 18.5 percent of the total cost.

As the paddy crop grown using �poor� qualitywater had a blackish tinge, the demand wasreduced as reflected in a 20 percent lower pricecompared to �normal� paddy. The price ofsugarcane cultivated using polluted groundwaterwas lower by 37 percent compared to �normal�crop, as the sucrose recovery was 4 percentcompared to �normal� where the sucroserecovery is 8 to 10 percent.

Use of polluted groundwater resulted inal lergic dermatit is, skin irr i tat ion andgastrointestinal problems. Due to this, theadditional health care expenditure was Rs.2,616per year per family. In addition, livestock alsosuffered from skin rashes and edema. The lossin employment in agricultural activities due toillness caused from exposure to the pollutedwater is 40 man days per year, valued atRs.2,327. In the area, ecological imbalance wasevident in terms of reduction in bird population,crab, frog, and fish catch in the open wells, andprolific growth of weeds (Basophylls) was noticedall through the fields. Marginal farmers were theworst hit from pollution.

The incremental return to provision of surfacedrainage for paddy, a measure to reducegroundwater pollution was Rs.487. The cost ofsupplying treated water was around Rs.130 peracre-inch of water.

Policy Recommendations

Regulatory Interventions

· There is a need for inst i tut ionalrestructuring of groundwater regulationssuch as using permits for drilling wells,maintenance of inter-well space,optimum number of wells, use of efficientpump technologies and banningadditional wells in overexploited areas tillthe groundwater situation improves.

· State pol icies such as subsidizedelectricity for groundwater irrigation havean adverse impact on groundwaterdevelopment. Hence, appropriatepricing, incorporating marginal cost ofextraction is desirable.

Demand side Interventions

· Adoption of drip irrigation should bemade mandatory in dark talukas, wherefarmers have invested in additional wells,to sustain groundwater irrigation.

· Groundwater depletion is also attributedto cult ivation of water intensivecommercial crops on a large scale. Thus,there is a need for benign crop pattern,which needs less water.

Supply side Interventions

· Efforts should be made to bridge the gapbetween extraction and recharge, on thecommunity basis through people�sparticipation for the construction of waterharvesting structures, and desilting theexisting tanks so that groundwatersupply can be augmented throughrecharge.

· Government should consider artificialrecharge projects in dark and greytalukas on priority basis.

Other Interventions

· The problem of inequity existing in wellirrigation, where physical and economicaccess to groundwater is restricted forthe poor, could possibly be addressedby promoting group investment programslike Ganga Kalyana Yojana for thebenefit of small and marginal farmers.

· Since farmers are the bulk users ofgroundwater, they need to be educatedregarding the scarcity value of thisprecious resource through maintenanceof well- logs by the groundwaterdepartment to include well location, well

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type, well depth, power of the pumpused, pump placement, date of drilling,length of casing, and so on.

· Details such as water yield of the well,water quality in different seasons andwater abstracted from the wells need tobe continuously recorded with the helpof flow meter and water quality tests.

· The farmers need to be educatedregarding the flow meter data which willshow them the extent of withdrawal ofgroundwater from their irrigation wells sothat they can appreciate thepredicament, and even adopt copingmechanisms such as use of drip /sprinkler irrigation measures and adopta suitable crop pattern towards asustainable groundwater use.

For water quality issues, the policy optionsinter alia include:

Economic instruments such as:

· Polluter pays principle, which should beused by imposing a tax on polluters, andresulting revenue should be used to treatthe water.

· Capital subsidy for treatment plants is tobe provided to encourage abatementprocess.

· Green tax on polluting industries may beimposed in order to refrain them frompolluting water resource.

· Pollution Control Board should strictlymonitor whether the polluters adhere tothe standards attained while letting in theeffluents to water bodies.

Technological Solutions

· Varieties of crops, other than paddy andsugarcane that are suitable to be grownunder adverse water quality conditions,such as sweet flag (Acorus calamus), amedicinal plant that thrives fairly well inpolluted water, could be explored.

· Recycling of wastewater for agricultureand industr ial use needs to beencouraged through privateparticipation/ co-operatives.

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reconciling environment and economics - irade

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