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IWMI is a Futures Harvest Center Supported by the CGIAR Institute Water, Food and Environment III World Water Forum Groundwater Governance in Asia th 17 March 2003 Room E, Kyoto International Conference Hall [KICH] IWMI Website: http://www.iwmi.org The Challenge of Taming a Colossal Anarchy

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Page 1: III World Water Forum Water, Food and Environmentpublications.iwmi.org/pdf/H044083.pdf · Water, Food and Environment III World Water Forum Groundwater Governance in Asia 17th March

IWMI is a Futures Harvest CenterSupported by the CGIARI n s t i t u t e

Water, Food andEnvironment

III World Water Forum

GroundwaterGovernance in Asia

th17 March 2003Room E, Kyoto International

Conference Hall [KICH]

IWMI Website: http://www.iwmi.org

The Challenge of Taming aColossal Anarchy

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Table of Contents

2 Tushaar Shah IWMI-India The Challenge of Groundwater Governance in Asia

6 Aditi Mukherji IWMI-India Groundwater Socio-ecology of South Asia: Results of a Survey of 2630 Tubewell Owners in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh

7 Asad Qureshi IWMI-Pakistan Protecting Food and Livelihoods Security throughConjunctive Water Management: The Challenge ofGroundwater Governance in Pakistan Punjab

9 M Mainuddin IWMI-SE Asia Poverty Alleviation versus Mass Poisoning: The Dilemma of Groundwater Irrigation in Bangladesh

Technocratic Approaches

11 Shilp Verma IWMI-India More Crop per Drop: Can Micro-Irrigation Help Alleviate the Groundwater Depletion?

12 Dinesh Kumar IWMI-India Micro-management of Groundwater: IWMI's Experiment in North Gujarat

13 Shamjibhai Antala Saurastra Lok Manch Can Mass Movement for Decentralized Water Harvesting and Recharge help Cope with Groundwater Depletion? Lessons from Western India

Regulatory Approaches

15 Chetan Pandit Ministry of Water Sustainable Groundwater Management: Should India Resources, GoI pursue Aggressive Regulation?

16 Jinxia Wang Center for Chinese Sustainable Groundwater Management: How Agricultural Policy, Effective has Groundwater Regulation been in North

CAS China Plains?

18 Christopher Scott IWMI-India Sustainable Groundwater Management: Have Property Rights Reforms helped in Mexico?

19 Eran Feitelson Hebrew University Sustainable Groundwater Management: Has of Jerusalem Regulation worked in Israel, the Mecca of Water Management?

20 Marcus Moench ISET Need to Search for Adaptive Approaches

21 Tushaar Shah IWMI-India Strategic Approaches to Indirect Management of the Groundwater Economy

Page Author Affiliation Title

The Challenge

Is Asia Meeting the Challenge?

Search for Strategic Approaches

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I. THE CHALLENGE OF GROUNDWATER GOVERNANCE IN ASIA

Tushaar Shah IWMI-India [ ] [email protected]

“Groundwater will be an enduring gauge of this generation's 1intelligence in water and land management” . Nowhere will

this intelligence be put to a harder test than in Asia which uses some 500 out of the world's total use of

3750 m of groundwater in agriculture. US, Australia and Europe also use groundwater a lot, but largely for municipal and industrial uses. These too face the challenge of balancing the demand with availability; but the Asian groundwater challenge is altogether different, more serious and intractable. Africa has modest reserves of groundwater; but it still uses only a small fraction of what it has; Africa's challenge is to use its groundwater to promote livelihoods of the poor but in a sustainable manner. Many problems Asia is now facing might have been avertedor, at least, amelioratedif it had acted in good time; Africa has that opportunity to hasten slowly on the path of groundwater-induced agrarian boom, which in many parts of Asia is ready to bust, especially since the geographic spread of the growth in groundwater irrigation has followed human population density rather than resource availability (Figure 1).

Groundwater irrigation in South Asia and North China has emerged as big business (Table 1). Rapid growth, during the 1970-95 period, of groundwater irrigation in South Asia and North China plains has been at the heart of their agrarian growth; but with growing problems of resource depletion and/or deterioration, Asia's groundwater socio-ecology is under siege. Much

concern about the problems of groundwater depletion, pollution and quality deterioration is fueled by worries about their environmental consequences. These are indeed serious; however, equally serious are their consequences for the sustenance of agrarian economies and millions of rural livelihoods that have come to precariously depend upon

1 The credo of the Australian Groundwater School at Adelaide.

Table 1: The Size of Asia's Groundwater Economy

A No. of wells (million) 26 0.5 0.8 0.06 3.5

3B Average output/well (m /hr) 25 100 30 30 41

C Average hours of 330 1090 1300 205 1134Operation/well/year

D Price of pump irrigation 1 2 1.5 1.5 0.96(US $/hr)

3E Groundwater used (km ) 215 54.5 31.2 0.37 106

F Value of groundwater 8.6 1.1 1.6 0.02 2.5used/year in US billion $

India Pakistan Bangladesh Nepal Terai North China Punjab Plains

Density of Population ( person/sq.km)

Below 150

150 - 300

300 - 500

500 - 1000

Above 1000

No Data

Number of Energized Pumps 1Dot = 5000

*Pakistan includes data forPakistan Punjab only

@ Number of pumps in Pakistanmultiplied by 3, as average capacityof pumps is 3 times that of India

# Pump data not available forIndian states of Rajasthan, Keralaand Himachal Pradesh

1000 Kilometers1000 0

Figure 1: Density of Po pulation and Distribution of En ergized Pumps inIndia and Pakistan

GROUNDWATER GOVERNANCE IN ASIAThe Challenge of Taming a Colossal Anarchy

Source: Estimates by IWMI scientists

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3

groundwater irrigation, particularly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. Here, over the past 50 years, public investments and donor funds have been showered over surface irrigation but the bulk of its irrigation and agrarian growth have been delivered by millions of small pumps and wells financed mostly through private farmer investments. New analysis for Indian agriculture, which suggests that in the recent decades, of the agricultural productivity of a 'representative' (or typical) net sown hectare, the portion contributed by groundwater irrigation is very nearly twice contributed by surface irrigation (Figure 2). This analysis has also shown that groundwater development has been spatially dispersed and even where as canal irrigation projects have created small islands of affluence leaving large catchment areas poor and deprived. It is not surprising then that while canal irrigation projects are seldom seen as regional poverty reduction interventions, providing access to groundwater irrigation through pump subsidies or public tubewell programs has been at the centre-stage of poverty reduction programs in South Asia.

% contribution of SWI to Agricultural GDP % contribution of GWI to Agricultural GDP

0

20

40

60

1 21 41 61 81 101 121 141 161 181 201 221 241

Districts

1991-93

0

20

40

60

1 21 41 61 81 101 121 141 161 181 201 221 241

Districts

1971-73

This good run that many countries of the world, particularly in Asia, are having with groundwater irrigation may soon come to an end. Throughout the world regions that have sustainable groundwater balance are shrinking by the day. Three problems dominate groundwater use: depletion due to overdraft; water logging and salinization mostly due to inadequate drainage and insufficient conjunctive use; and pollution due to agricultural, industrial and other human activity. Groundwater depletion has major environmental consequences; but it has important economic consequences too. Declining water tables raise energy and capital costs of accessing groundwater to prohibitive levels; in some regions, such as North Gujarat or Baluchistan, entire agrarian economies face serious threat of extinction from the decline of groundwater socio-ecologies. Water quality and health problemssuch as very high fluoride and arsenic contenthave similarly immiserizing social impacts in South Asia as well as China.

The pathology of the decline in groundwater socio-ecology in region after region reflects a remarkably similar 4-stage pattern:

Stage 1: Undeveloped groundwater is viewed as a big opportunity for livelihood creation for the poor, resource management goal is to stimulate its development and use;

Stage 2: Agrarian prosperity fired by groundwater irrigation ensues; but institutions and management regimes for orderly and sustainable use of the resource are not in place;

Stage 3: Early symptoms of groundwater over-draft and quality degradation emerge; but irrigators' interests are well-entrenched and they resist attempts at regulation;

Stage 4: Advanced state of depletion and deterioration that threatens the social and ecological fabric of a region leaving immiserizing impacts.

This underpins the typical progression of a socio-ecology from a stage where unutilized groundwater resource potential becomes the instrument of unleashing an agrarian boom to one in which, unable to apply brakes in time, it goes overboard in exploiting its groundwater.

Figure 2: Changing contribution of ground and surface water irrigation inAgricultural Output in India's 252 districts: 1971-73 and 1991-93

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of A

grica

ltura

l GD

P

Pe

rce

nta

ge

to

Ag

rica

ltura

l GD

P

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Figure 3: Pathology of rise and decline of a groundwater socio-ecology

EX

AM

PL

ES North Gujarat, Coastal

Tamilnadu, Coastal Saurashtra, Southern Rajasthan; Hebai, Shanxi, and Henan Provinces in North China

Haryana, Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Central Tamilnadu; Bangladesh; Pakistan Punjab

Eastern Uttar Pradesh; Western Godavari; Central and South Gujarat; Northern Sri Lanka; Chao Phraya in Thailand; Baluchistan

North Bengal and North Bihar, Nepal Terai, Orissa, Vietnam

The `Bubble' Bursts; Agri. Growth Declines; Pauperization of the Poor is Accompanied by Depopulation of Entire Clusters of Villages. Water Quality Problems Assume Serious Proportions; the `Smart' begin Moving out Long before the Crisis Deepens; the Poor Get Hit the Hardest.

Crop Diversification; Permanent Decline in Water Tables. The GW-based `Bubble Economy' Continues Booming; But Tensions Between Economy and Ecology Surface as Pumping Costs Soar and Water Market become Oppressive; Private and Social Costs of GW use Part Ways.

Skewed Ownership of Tubewells; Access to Pump Irrigation Prized; Rise of Primitive Pump Irrigation `Exchange' Institutions. Decline of Traditional Water Lifting Technologies; Rapid Growth in Agrarian Income and Employment

Subsistence Agriculture; Protective Irrigation Traditional crops;Concentrated Rural Poverty; Traditional Water Lifting Devices using Human and Animal Power

CH

AR

AC

TE

RIS

TIC

S

Subsidies, Credit and Donor Support Reluctantly go; NGOs, Donors Assume Conservationist Posture Zoning Restrictions begin to Get Enforced With Frequent Pre-election Relaxations; Water Imports begin for Domestic Needs; Variety of Public and NGO Sponsored Ameliorative Action Starts.

Subsidies, Credit, Donor and NGO Support Continue Apace; Licensing, Citing Norms and Zoning System are Created but are Weakly Enforced. Groundwater Irrigators Emerge as a Huge, Powerful Vote-bank that Political Leaders can not Ignore.

Subsidies Continue. Institutional Credit for Wells and Pumps. Donors Augment Resources for Pump Capital; NGOs Promote Small Farmer Irrigation as a Livelihood Programme.

Targeted Subsidy on Pump Capital; Public Tubewell Programmes;Electricity Subsidies and Flat Tariff.

INT

ER

VE

NT

ION

SS

TA

GE

S

The Rise of Green Revolution andTubewellTechnologies

Stage I Stage II

Groundwater-basedAgrarian Boom

Stage III

Early SymptomsGroundwater Over-draft

Stage IV

Decline of theGroundwater Socio-ecologywith ImmiserisingImpacts.

The critical issue for Africa is: can it put in place an institutional and policy framework that can stabilize its emerging groundwater irrigation economy at stage 2 or 3? Are there adaptive policies and management responses early on that can generate a steady-state equilibrium, which sustains the groundwater-induced agrarian boom without degrading the resource itself ?

4

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The critical issue for Asia is: does stage 4 always have to play out the way it has so far in many areas of Asia? More pertinently, what might be done to sustain groundwater socio-ecologies under threat and keep them from falling over the edge of the precipice?

The Asian groundwater scene is albeit not uniform. In humid alluvial plains of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, in Mekong as well as in Yangtzee basin in China, vast reserves of unutilized groundwater resources offer major opportunity for agricultural growth and poverty reduction. The challenge of sustainable groundwater

Arid q q q o q q q q

Humid q q qq qq

Coastal plains qq q qq o q

Inter-Montane q qq o q

Valleys

Hardrock Areas qq O q qqq

SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND MANAGEMENTCHALLENGES

HYDRO-GEOLOGICAL

SETTINGSOptimizing Conjunctive

Use**

SecondarySalinization

***

NaturalGroundwater

QualityConcerns

Resource Depletion*

MajorAlluvialPlains

management arises in arid alluvial plains of the Indus and Yellow river basins and in the hardrock regions of peninsular India. Many of Asia's coastal aquifers too face serious threat of depletion and saline intrusion.

Nobody has worked out a complete answer to this question that is also practical and implementable in diverse conditions obtaining in the developing world. But a cursory overview of global experience suggests that strategies used by different countries for sustainable groundwater management are determined inter alia by their stage of economic development.

Table 2: Challenges of Sustainable Groundwater Management

Note: No. of dots suggest the magnitude of the challenge

Arid alluvial plains

Humid alluvial plains

Hard rock areas

Inter-mountainous valleys

Coastal plains

Figure 4: A groundwater-based typology of Asia

5

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Growing contribution of groundwater in South Asia's agricultural economy remains both underestimated and understudied. However, in recent years there is an increasing awareness about the important role that groundwater has played in fostering food sufficiency in much of this poverty stricken belt of the world. At the same time, there is a realization that much of this precious resource stands the chance of rapid and irreversible exploitation in many parts of South Asia. The issue is: how long can this good run continue without any mechanism for governing this colossus? What kind of governing structures and mechanisms might help? Refined understanding of the (non)existing governance structure in groundwater and further research into fine tuning this

understanding in order to try and bring about a modicum of order in the functioning of this booming but anarchic economy is of great urgency. In this quest for better governance, need to understand the spatial variation within South Asia itself is of great importance and indeed was the justification of the country surveys conducted by IWMI in 2002.

II. GROUNDWATER SOCIO ECOLOGY OF SOUTH ASIA: RESULT OF A SURVEY OF 2630 TUBEWELLOWNERS IN INDIA, PAKISTAN, BANGLADESH AND NEPAL

Aditi Mukherji IWMI-India [ ] [email protected]

Pre 1970s

1980s

1970s

1990s

The findings, based on an extensive region wide groundwater survey will thus, bring out the salient features of groundwater economy and socio-ecology of South Asia. This survey has helped reinforce several facts regarding groundwater irrigation in South Asia and at the same time has helped challenge some myths surrounding it.

Perhaps the most important finding of the survey is the rapid growth of groundwater economy in the last three decades, with peak in 1990s. Thus, 1990s can very well be designated as the decade of “pump explosion”. This survey corroborates the findings of Agricultural Censuses of India in that the ownership of groundwater assets were less skewed than the ownership of land, making groundwater

an ideal mechanism for poverty alleviation in the water abundant areas. That groundwater economy is primarily self financed came as a revelation to many who maintained that huge government subsidies, either direct or indirect, has played an important role in spreading groundwater irrigation. Perhaps, what this indicates is that, government subsidies might not have reached the targeted

Source: IWMI Survey, 2002

Figure 5: South Asia’s groundwater boom is still in the making

6

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segments and indeed, there is enough evidence for the same. However, there are regional differences in this regard. Evidence from Nepal suggests that government subsidies have played an important role in popularizing groundwater irrigation, while evidence from Bangladesh suggests that government subsidies had hardly any role to play. Another important aspect explored in this survey was the regional variations in distribution of electric and diesel based water extraction mechanisms (WEMs). That there exists a wise “energy divide” in South Asia was clearly brought out. This so called energy divide is quite ironic in nature. Thus, the poverty stricken and water abundant areas in Eastern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, where groundwater can unleash unprecedented agrarian boom are saddled with low capacity and high operating cost diesel pumps, while regions with depleting groundwater tables have a predominance of electric WEMs, paying negligible power tariff. In this context, “energy irrigation nexus” emerged as an important aspect of the groundwater economy and perhaps the only handle that the government has in managing this huge economy. Water markets in South Asia has been a topic of great interest to scholars and the views expressed as charted seemingly two contradictory paths. On the one hand, water markets have been hailed as important vehicle for

poverty alleviation and on the other hand, it has been condemned as instrument for accumulation of surpluses by rich water lords. Our survey, therefore, quite justifiably concentrated on this aspect of the groundwater economy. The results revealed a change in the regional spread and intensity of the groundwater markets. Eastern India, Nepal and Bangladesh have developed very vibrant groundwater markets over the last decade or so, while, the much documented water markets in the Western and Peninsular India are on a decline. This basically reflects the amount of groundwater availability across regions, and given the widespread overexploitation in the hard rock regions, it is not surprising that scale and intensity of groundwater markets have declined. In fact, in such hard rock regions of South Asia, groundwater has in fact contributed to further immiserization of the rural poor. This is in sharp contrast with the opportunities that groundwater offers in the water abundant parts of the Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra basin.

Our findings underscore the need for refined and nuanced analysis of groundwater socio-ecology in South Asia taking into account both the spatial and temporal aspects of change. It recommends adoption of groundwater policies suitable to the regional realities of Asia.

III. PROTECTING FOOD AND LIVELIHOODS SECURITY THROUGH CONJUNCTIVE WATER MANAGEMENT: THE CHALLENGE OF GROUNDWATER GOVERNANCE IN PAKISTAN PUNJAB

Asad Sarwar Qureshi IWMI-Pakistan [ ] [email protected]

Increasing demand and deteriorating water quality has put enormous pressure on the agriculture sector to use its available water resources more efficiently and to improve the productivity of water. These pressures are a result of the increasing demand for food and ever declining opportunities for the extension of irrigation to other areas due to scarcity of land and water resources and high costs of development. Increasing the productivity of water and the sustainability of existing water resources is central to fight poverty, to reduce competition for water and to ensure that there is enough water for nature.

In semi-arid regions, scarcity of fresh water resources has forced farmers to extract groundwater to supplement their crop demands. Groundwater is now the largest source of irrigation (50-60%) in South and Southeast Asia and North China, and its use for cities is also rising rapidly. The extent of groundwater development in Pakistan can be gauged by the fact that in 1960 there were less than 1000 irrigation pumps. Today it has over 0.5 million and groundwater contributes upto 50% of the total water available at the farm gate. The exploitation of useable groundwater provided an opportunity for the farmers of these areas to supplement their irrigation requirements and to cope with the vagaries of the surface supplies. This has transformed a situation of low and uncertain crop yields to more secure

and predictable regime of crop production.

Studies have shown that crop yields have increased almost by 150 to 200 percent due to the use of groundwater to supplement rotational canal water supplies. As a result, groundwater has become the heart of booming local economies, and the mainstay of agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods. But the current rates of groundwater use in most of these regions are unsustainable. Rapidly falling water tables and increasing salt contents in the pumped groundwater imply that more expensive and poor quality groundwater will have to be used for irrigation in future. This impairs the Pakistan's capacity to feed its growing population.

Water logging and salinity in the Indus basin still remains one of the key bottlenecks in managing land and water productivity to the optimal levels, despite of immense efforts. Secondary salinization associated with the shallow groundwater tables and use of poor quality groundwater for irrigation has further compounded the salinity problems. Therefore, salt-affected soils have become an important ecological entity in the Indus basin of Pakistan. It is estimated that nearly 6 million hectares are already afflicted with this menace, of which about half are located in irrigated areas. About 40% of this area

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Problems: Deterioration of GW Quality

Problems: Depletion Due to Overdraft

(2.7 million ha) lies in the Punjab province, which produces more than 90% of Pakistan's total food production. Another 1.0 million hectare is affected by water logging. The above facts indicate that the agricultural sector suffers deeply from both water logging and salinity. About 75 percent of the population and about half of the Gross National Product (GNP) are directly or indirectly related to the agricultural sector. This shows that the problems of water logging and salinity are not just agricultural problems, but that they do affect the country as a whole and ultimately the social fabric of Pakistani society. Water logging and salinity have very adverse social and economic effects on communities in Pakistan, causing poor living standards in affected areas and health problems for humans and animals. This situation has forced the local population in many parts to migrate to other areas.

The problems of the Indus basin are complex because good quality water resources are diminishing and the demand for food is increasing, which means that the productivity of water must go up. Reduced irrigation applications can increase the risk of soil salinization due to insufficient leaching. Drainage systems have the drawbacks of being expensive to install and operate and to produce highly saline effluent, which is a problem for downstream users. Therefore the challenge is to utilize canal water and groundwater (extracted from tubewells) optimally for crop production while keeping groundwater table fluctuations and salinity build up within the acceptable limits.

Over the past three decades, numerous efforts have been made to develop guidelines for the use of different quality waters for the irrigation and to reclaim salt-

Figure 6

8

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affected soils through biotic, physical and chemical measures. In spite of huge investments, the success has been limited because these efforts remained confined to the farm and field level, and no serious attempt was made to translate the implications of these findings to a larger, system level. The research conducted to advise farmers on the use of different quality tubewell waters was based on field scale experiments and was not tested for their long-term consequences on crop production and environmental degradation. The results were therefore regarded as local and short-term solutions and could not get the attention of farming community.

Effective conjunctive water management requires effective technologies for controlling surface water applications, water logging, groundwater withdrawal, and artificial to

recharge to aquifers. Technologies exist to provide almost any degree of control required but their costs and upkeep requirements differ widely. More importantly, combination of institutions and management tools needed to effectively integrate management of surface and groundwater is lacking, particularly in developing countries. Sustainability of irrigated agriculture through conjunctive water management also demands the existence of effective institutional arrangements and long-term on-farm financial and economic benefits for the farmers to ensure that conjunctive water management leads to increased farm incomes and alleviate poverty. Therefore there is every motivation to designate more capital and efforts to study technical, institutional and management aspects of conjunctive water management to ensure sustainability of irrigated agriculture.

IV. POVERTY ALLEVIATION VERSUS MASS POISONING: THE DILEMMA OF GROUNDWATER IRRIGATION IN BANGLADESH

M. Mainuddin IWMI-South East Asia [ ] [email protected]

The growth of groundwater irrigation has been the second most dramatic development in Asian agriculture of the last two decades, after the spread of g reen-revolution technology. While many countries in Asia have exploited their aquifers to supplement surface water supplies, no country in the region is as dependent on groundwater as Bangladesh. The total production and average yield of rice, the predominant crop, have grown from 9.8 million tons and 1.05 ton/ha respectively in 1972 to approximately 20 million tons and 1.97 ton/ha in 1999. These production increases have resulted from a substantial intensification of agriculture rather than from increases in cultivated area. Cropping intensity has grown substantially from 145% in 1975 to 175% in 1999. This growth in intensity was driven by increased cultivation during the dry season, made possible by the availability of irrigation by groundwater through the rapid increase in adoption of shallow tubewells. In 1999, of the 3.99 million ha of irrigated area, approximately 70% of irrigation was dependent on groundwater. Therefore, groundwater development coupled with the green revolution has gradually enabled Bangladesh to emerge from being a 'basket case' to partial self sufficiency in staple food production and significant reductions in poverty.

To put the poverty profile in Bangladesh in brief, extreme poverty prevails among 22.7% of rural households and moderate poverty among 29.2%. Besides these, another class of the poor with vulnerability to income erosion comprises about 21%. Another characteristic development is the decline of malnutrition, which reached the lowest level in 1996. Groundwater irrigation has helped mitigate the poverty. The most recent estimate of the Human Poverty Index (HPI) has dropped more than 20% during

last 15 years (1981 to 1997). The development of groundwater irrigation has increased livelihood of the country. In one irrigation season, 3 laborers can get employment for 3 months per hectare of land. According to FAO, groundwater irrigation in Bangladesh has increased the employment in agriculture since 1985 by 250 percent. Thus groundwater irrigation has emerged as a formidable tool for livelihood improvement and poverty alleviation in Bangladesh.

The advantages of exploiting groundwater irrigation sources are under serious threat due to arsenic contamination. Recent evidence has shown that groundwater sources of 61 districts out of 64 are contaminated with arsenic. Some researchers attribute groundwater abstraction for irrigation as the cause of arsenic contamination whereas others suggest that the origin of arsenic rich groundwater is a natural phenomenon that has no relationship with excessive groundwater abstraction. Since the detection of arsenic in drinking water, a great deal of effort has been diverted towards the determination of the cause of contamination

Figure 7

9

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and the removal of arsenic from drinking water. It is estimated that 25 million people are potentially exposed to arsenic poisoning through drinking water. This has been described at the greatest mass poisoning in human history. However, even these figures may be surpassed if arsenic is shown to be entering the food chain through the consumption of crops irrigated by contaminated water. Recent studies suggest that arsenic from contaminated groundwater is being taken up by rice. Irrigation of paddy with arsenic contaminated water is also presenting in elevated arsenic levels in soils. In another study, it was found that arsenic levels in the soil were correlated with local well water concentrations, suggesting that the soils had become contaminated through irrigation with arsenic contaminated water. High levels of arsenic have also been found in soils which will have long-term impacts on crop productivity and quality.

However, no comprehensive studies have been undertaken to assess the consequence of arsenic entering the food

Figure 8: Arsenic Contamination Cycle

Already well established

According to recent report arsenic is getting into rice

chain through irrigation with contaminated groundwater, its impact on soil and crop productivity and overall livelihoods of the people. In this respect drinking water is a small proportion of the total groundwater consumed when compared to that used in the production of irrigated crops. While a great deal of attention has been given to find alternative sources of drinking water such as rain water harvesting, community ponds, and developing low-

cost filters to remove the arsenic from contaminated water, scant attention has been given to alternatives to groundwater irrigation or reducing the dependence on contaminated groundwater for irrigation. Due to continued population growth, pressure on agricultural lands, and thereby on the groundwater is likely to stay on or even grow for several decades for producing food as well as supporting rural livelihoods if the present trend continues. Therefore, developing and managing groundwater resource in a sustainable manner poses many challenges such as:

1. What would be the impact of arsenic accumulation in soil on crop productivity and quality?

2. What would be the impact on irrigated agriculture, socio-economy and overall livelihoods of the people?

3. How to minimize these impacts?

4. Overall, how to make groundwater use sustainable?

There is clear evidence that groundwater irrigation is a formidable tool for poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, it could also be the cause of mass poisoning. There is serious risk that we may face a bigger catastrophe than we can visualize. If steps are not taken in the right direction arsenic contamination could threaten the very existence of our civilization.

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V. MORE CROP PER DROP: CAN MICRO-IRRIGATION HELP ALLEVIATE GROUNDWATER DEPLETION?

Shilp Verma IWMI, India [ ] [email protected]

‘More Crop per Drop’ aims at enhancing production per unit of water use. While farm-level benefits of micro-irrigation technologies have widely been studied and illustrated, there is still a large question looming on whether their adoption can actually lead to water saving at the system level. In the classical model of irrigation efficiency, all water applied is treated as consumed or lost while the integrated basin view of irrigation efficiency views only the effective evapo-transpiration as the irrigation loss. In either case, increased water efficiency at farm/individual level would not lead to water saving at the system level unless higher farm efficiencies are achieved all across the system. Thus, unless the adoption of micro-irrigation is scaled up, it would not make any significant contribution to alleviating groundwater depletion and related problems.

Even after more than three decades of promotion by various government and non-government agencies, the spread of micro-irrigation in India is miniscule. The limited growth of micro-irrigation technologies in India can, to a large extent, be explained by the apparent gap between what has been marketed and where the demand lies. Over the years, agencies have been promoting micro-irrigation as a 'new concept in agriculture' through a “package solution” with the following salient features: [1] water saving; [2] good pay back period and internal rate of return; [3] customized and highly sophisticated technology; [4] higher yields and better quality of output; and [5] labor saving. The farmers, on the other hand, have different priorities and they demand solutions and technologies that would provide them: [1] assured returns; [2] lower costs; [3] simple technology; [4] generic applicability; and [5] higher and better yields with lesser pumping hours.

This gap between what the consumers demand and what is being currently marketed can broadly be addressed through the following policy prescriptions:

1.Shifting Micro-Irrigation Technologies from Investment Mode to Input Mode:

There is a need to view micro-irrigation technologies as recurring but much lower input costs rather than capital investments that offer returns over the next 8-10 years. If the small farmers are to be targeted, policy makers in promoting agencies must understand that they would be hesitant in making huge-capital investments in new technologies unless they are very sure of their results. Even when they are convinced about the returns, they might not be in a position to incur the huge capital costs due to poor access to good quality credit options.

The market for Micro Irrigation products is experiencing its second major shift today. From the highly sophisticated custom built drip irrigation solutions for the large farmers, the technology shifted towards Package Solutions provided in the form of drip-kits popularised by IDE in the form of bucket-drip-kits and micro-tube-kits and the recent family-drip-kits being offered by Netafim. Today, there is a need to transfer the technology into the hands of the users. The farmers are demanding components of drip-kits like pipes, drippers etc which they can assemble on their own.

Moreover, there is a strong notion among the farmers as well as in the micro-irrigation industry that drip is a technology more suitable for big farmers. A buried strip drip system in the USA costs about US$ 1,200 per acre (about the market value of an acre of irrigated land). Pepsee systems are low-cost alternatives of drip irrigation systems and are made up of low density polythene ranging from 65-130 microns, essentially used for making ice candy locally called 'Pepsee'. The initial investment for Pepsee systems is 42 percent less than the same for micro-tubes and 78 percent less than the same for conventional drips. At an initial investment of less than US$ 100, Pepsee systems offer the perfect 'Stepping Stone' for adoption of more sophisticated water saving technologies.

2.From Custom-Solutions to a Package Solution to Farmer-Assembled Systems:

Figure 9

Figure 10

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Uncontrolled abstraction of groundwater for irrigation has resulted in many problems in north Gujarat including mining of deep alluvial aquifers and secular decline in water levels; deterioration of groundwater quality manifested by high levels of salinity and fluorides in groundwater pumped from deep aquifers, making water non-potable, and sometime unusable for irrigation. Depletion problems in north Gujarat are very serious, owing to the extent of overdraft and mining, rate of depletion, the degree of dependence on groundwater for economic activities, and have far reaching consequences on the region's socio ecology. Legislative and regulatory measures to check overdraft that are socially viable and politically acceptable, have either not been worked out or have not been effectively enforced. The government interventions to protect the region from economic distress and collapse of the social fabric have, by and large, failed to make any positive impact. There are projects in pipeline to take up large-scale promotion of pressurized irrigation technologies. However, this is not based on sound understanding of the scope and limitations of these technologies. In recognition of the groundwater depletion problems and their adverse socioeconomic and ecological impacts, IWMI launched an action research project in 30 villages of Banaskantha district on community-based local groundwater management.

Hydrological Opportunities for Augmenting Groundwater

While on the one hand, the high inter-annual variability in the rainfall and runoff reduces the reliability of local water harvesting systems, on the other, it increases the hydrological opportunities available for these systems. The excessively high runoff generated in some of the years increases the potential of local water harvesting systems in

terms of the amount of runoff available for harnessing. Thus the quantum of water, which is generated from 100

thha catchment, with 1/6 probability is sufficient to irrigate nearly 46 ha in one season. Large potential for water harvesting exists in the downstream of Dantiwada and Sipu reservoirs in Banaskantha district, as they are free catchments. In areas such as Danta in the eastern hilly tracts of Banaskantha, the minimum runoff that will be generated once in 6 years from a one-sq. km catchment will be as high as 0.559 MCM, which if captured underground can irrigate an additional area of nearly 110 hectares.

The large unsaturated zones in the depleted alluvial aquifers provide excellent opportunities for recharging. This is complemented by the sandy soils, and the presence of local ponds that act as the sink for the local sheet runoff. But, at present only de-silting is practiced. This is not sufficient for getting optimum recharge of the stored water. During high rainfall years, the runoff generated even from a small catchment of 100 ha will be extremely high. This runoff is generated in a small amount of time given the fact high rainfall events that generate runoff are very few. The storage capacity of village ponds, which are generally in the size of 0.01 to 0.05 MCM (1 to 5 ha), will be too insufficient to capture all the runoff. The rate of percolation of water through the soil zone will be low. Also, owing to the large depth to groundwater table, a good fraction of the water while percolating down through the dry soil zone (vadose zone) will get absorbed by the soil particles are hygroscopic water. Therefore, recharge tube wells are required to increase the rate of intake of water. They can link the water in the pond to the aquifers that are tapped.

Physical Opportunities for “Wet Water” Saving

In villages where groundwater occurs under hard rock conditions, open wells and dug-cum- bore wells are used for irrigation. These wells have poor yield characteristics and run for 2-3 hours a day, much less than the hours of power supply. These are the most ideal situations for adopting water-saving technologies. The farmers can go for overhead sprinklers for crops such as wheat, bajra, jowar, mustard and elephant grass which are common. Micro sprinklers and mini sprinklers would be much suitable for alfalfa, which almost every farmer is growing. Drip systems will be feasible for crops such as castor, fennel, cotton, chilly and brinjal.

For large farmers having their own independent wells, but not sufficient water, conventional pressurized irrigation

VI. MICRO-MANAGEMENT OF GROUNDWATER: IWMI'S EXPERIMENT IN NORTH GUJARAT

M. Dinesh Kumar IWMI-India [ ] [email protected]

Figure 11: Level of Groundwater Development in Gujarat

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systems would prove to be technical feasible as well as economically viable. The Family Drip system being promoted by Netafim was found efficacious for irrigating alfalfa, with substantial water saving and yield gains. Sub-surface irrigation systems, FDS, micro-tube drip systems and “Easy Drips” do not require pressure head to run and therefore are most suitable for members of tube well partnerships and for water buyers. If the farmers shift to water saving technologies, the actual scope for water saving is high in these areas owing to: prevention of evaporation from the land surface; and prevention of deep percolation loss, which does not return to the pumped aquifer. Currently, farmers are tapping water from the deep confined aquifers, which are separated from the shallow aquifer, which is dry due to over-exploitation, by impervious layers. The seeping water takes long time travelling though the unsaturated zone; and may not reach the pumped aquifer.

What would work in Banaskantha?

Pressurized irrigation systems would eventually find greater acceptance among resource rich, large farmers who have independent irrigation sources, but not able to cover their entire command with traditional irrigation practices. Also, farmers who have poorly yielding wells, and are not able to utilise power supply fully, find great economic sense to go for pressurized irrigation systems. It will find least acceptance among farmers whose irrigation source have abundant supply potential, but are constrained by power supply shortages. Micro tube drip irrigation systems

will make great sense for those who do not have their independent sources of water supply and for water buyers. The “Easy Drip” was tested to be efficacious for several of the horticultural crops. The FDS would find takers among water buyers and well owners for irrigating alfalfa.

The opportunities available for generating higher returns out of water efficient irrigation technologies would greatly depend on the agronomical practices. In the case of pressurised irrigation technologies, since the energy overheads are more for small plots, the small and marginal farmers will have to make greater investments to do agronomical practices such as mulching, use of organic fertilizers including farm yard manure, proper spacing of plants, which in turn can help improve the water and land use productivity.

What does IWMI do in Banaskantha?

IWMI is currently promoting: [1] a wide variety of water saving technologies micro tube drip irrigation systems for horticultural crops, easy drips for row crops such as castor, cotton and fennel, and mini sprinklers and family drip irrigation systems for alfalfa; [2] scientific composting and organic farming practices; sub-surface irrig ation systems for water intensive field crops, row crops and horticultural crops; and [3] very low water intensive cash crops such as jojoba, date palm and horticultural crops, which can go along with drip irrigation. The strategy is to focus on water productivity and economic gains rather than water saving.

There are few places in the world where water has become 'everybody's business' quite like it has in Gujarat, particularly, Saurashtra and Kutch. The decentralized movement for water harvesting and groundwater recharge that has emerged as a groundswell in this region represents an effort whose scale matches the magnitude of the water scarcity and drought-proneness that increasingly haunt Western India. Many questions arise about the impact of this movement of which four seem particularly relevant: First, in principle at least, can decentralized water harvesting and groundwater recharge result in net improvement in basin or region level welfare? If not, is there emerging evidence of the movement waning, and people getting disillusioned, now that it has operated in a hyper-active mode for over a dozen years? Has the decentralized water harvesting and recharge movement stayed just thatwater harvesting and recharge movementor has it marked the first step to decentralized water resource management by communities? And, for populous, water-scarce countries like India, does Saurashtra represent a

VII. CAN MASS MOVEMENT FOR DECENTRALIZED WATER HARVESTING AND RECHARGE HELP COPE WITH GROUNDWATER DEPLETION? LESSONS FROM WESTERN INDIA

Shamjibhai Antala Saurastra Lok ManchTushaar Shah IWMI-India [ ] [email protected]

quirky exception or the harbinger of a broader, mainstream trend? If so, what might be its wider implications?

The evidence reviewed offers some tentative answers: [a] Decentralized groundwater recharge can at least ensure security of the main kharif crop for most farmers in Saurashtra and Kutch; and if a large number of people are adversely hit by this activityincluding towns peoplethere seems no significant sign yet of any big time opposition to water harvesting; [b] there seems little evidence of the waning of people's faith in the power of decentralized water harvesting to improve their livelihoods; [c] there are some early signs of an emerging consciousness of the need for water demand management, especially in agriculture; but this is essentially in response the need to save crops from declining well yield. There is no clear answer to the last question since Saurashtra and Kutch are different from other parts of Gujarat and Western India in several aspects of their socio-ecology.

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There is evidence that recharge movement has produced broad-based positive impacts. The primary benefit is ensuring the security of the kharif crop which, farmers in Saurashtra and Kutch are unsure of in three years out of five because of frequent early withdrawal of monsoons. The water harvested and available close to the point of use has ensured that the kharif crop is saved from moisture stress towards the close of the season; and social value of this benefit is indeed great. This is enough to induce farmers to take farming seriously again, to invest in land care, as also in inputs. Water harvesting and recharge works also alter the micro-ambiance; helps establish vegetation and increase biomass.

There is much discussion of up-stream/down-stream inequities. In contrast, some suggest we need to focus on overall welfare of the state. MS Patel, Gujarat's Secretary of Water Resources, and a big supporter of decentralized recharge works, is one of the exponents of this view. According to Patel, of the 6.4 m ha of total land mass in Saurashtra, 4.2 m ha is under cultivation. Its 120 dams irrigate 3.5 lakh ha; Narmada is expected eventually to irrigate 4.5 lakh more bringing the total irriga ted area to 8 lakh ha. As of now, groundwater irrigates 12 lakh ha. Still, 22 lakh ha is totally rainfed, limited to a single kharif crop. These farmers can be stabilized only if the kharif crop is securedwhich can be done only through WHSs. In the 22

Figure 12: Impact of Groundwater Recharge Movement in Saurashtra, Gujarat

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lakh ha of rainfed area, annual agricultural output is only Rs 1000-1500 crore; this, according to him, can go up to Rs 5000 crore with kharif-crop security. Patel also believes that the real water use efficiency issue in Saurashtra is not storing water in big versus small reservoirs, but in reservoirs versus aquifers. The water lost by evaporation

3 3from 2200 m m of water stored in reservoir is 600 m mwhich is greater than the total domestic water requirement

3of Saurashtra estimated to be 500 m m .

According to Patel, the big answer to Gujarat's water problems is check dams and more check dams. At a rate

2of 1 check dam per km , there is room to build nearly 50,000 in Saurashtra alone. Against this, Saurashtra has built less than 20,000 and that too mostly in the central uplands; there is room and need for many more.

VIII. RAINWATER HARVESTING, TUBE WELL LICENSING, NO FREE ELECTRICITY, WHAT NEXT?

2Chetan Pandit Director (R&D) Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India [ ] [email protected]

Groundwater, wherever available, presents an easy way to obtain water without any man-made control. The 1882 Indian Easement Act and similar acts elsewhere, allow a person to extract as much water as he can from the land owned by him. Advances in pump technology during last few decades have enabled people to extract water from deep underground aquifers. Coupled with an ever increasing demand, this has resulted in falling ground water levels in many parts of India and other countries. This is a matter of serious concern for water managers who are hard pressed to find ways to combat this problem and to install a sustainable regime of groundwater utilization. The tools available to the water managers to bring about any significant change in the groundwater scenario are limited. Many governments have enacted or have tried to enact legislation to restrict the extraction and use of groundwater. There are two problems in making such legislation effective.

First, the sheer numbers! The number of agricultural pumps runs into millions. Therefore, even with the help of modern technology like databases, it is next to impossible to keep track of every groundwater extraction structure and control the quantum of water extracted by it. Second, when the limit on extraction of groundwater is tied to some undefined “damage to environment”, it is very difficult to decide at what stage the damage to environment becomes unacceptable to warrant legal action; how does the state fix the responsibility on a particular well or group of wells for damage to environment?; and finally the task of proving this in a court of law. It is the author's hypothesis that if and when the state actually tries to implement the law and a few cases end up in courts, a whole range of new issues will come to the fore.The practice of providing free or near free electricity to tube wells has come under considerable criticism. While it is true that access to cheap or free electricity has made

extraction of groundwater affordable, it does not automatically follow that increasing the electricity rates will arrest fall of water table. The users of free electricity have formed strong pressure groups; when the rates are increased, the problem of electricity theft may further increase; farmers might even pay for the electricity at higher rates and simply pass on the costs to the consumer; and finally there is always the diesel engine.

In recent past, a lobby has emerged which advocates that rain water harvesting (RWH) and artificial recharge of groundwater (ARGW) are adequate answers to not only groundwater related problems but all water related problems. Buzz words like “Traditional Technologies”, “Wisdom of Centuries”; and slogans like “Catch the water where it falls” are being touted as substitutes for a sound understanding of hydrology and groundwater dynamics. Unfortunately, water management is far more complex than just coining catchy phrases and slogans.

While there is no doubt that RWH and ARGW will have a beneficial effect, the magnitude of this is yet to be assessed. In a city like Delhi, RWH will take place during the months of June to September. The shortage of water is most critical during the beginning of next summer, April and May. It is not yet clear whether the water harvested and put underground in August and September will remain available during next May or will it only flow away in the river as increased base flow during the

3intervening months.

Hundred years ago the forest cover, the state of watershed, and land use, all were in a state of pristine glory. There were no tube wells, no diesel engines, no electricity - neither free nor subsidized. There was no widespread farming of “water hungry” crops, no high yielding seeds etc. And the population to be supported was one fifth of what it is today. And yet, drought was

2The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author and not to be taken as official views of the Government of India

3To say this is not to deny the usefulness of RWH and ARGW. But there is no escape from making a quantitative estimate of the

potential of RWH.

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synonymous with famine and deaths. At the time of independence, the nation was unable to produce enough food grains for the population one third of what it is today. So, the “wisdom of centuries” that is said to be now “dying”, was in fact never alive.

To summarize: legislation that seeks to restrict the extraction of ground water if it damages the environment; indirect restriction through higher rates for electricity; and rain water harvesting; are not going to take us far. So, what next?

There is no easy solution. In fact the atmosphere has been considerably vitiated by those who think they have all the answers. It is doubtful if there are any solutions and it is certain that there are no easy solutions. However, following may be considered.

1. Take up R&D for quantitative estimation of the potential of RWH and ARGW. A rough estimate may be made quickly, to be refined in a second round. Without such a quantitative estimate, any discussion on “traditional technologies” is as pointless as discussing the backside of the moon.

2. Exploit surface water schemes to their fullest potential. It is ironical that those who are most concerned about the ground water scenario are often the most vocal opponents of the structural measures for surface

water development. It seems reasonable to argue that if adequate water was available through surface water schemes then ground water exploitation would reduce. Therefore, supply surface water to the fullest extent possible. This includes inter-basin transfer of water.

3. Initiate debate on deciding ownership of water. This is an extremely tricky issue. But eventually, it may become necessary to take a view on questions like how much water a person has right to? Does a person have a right to grow paddy or sugarcane in a drought prone area by sinking a deep tube well? These issues can not be settled overnight. Therefore, at least the debate may be initiated now.

None of these ideas are going to be easy to pursue. There will be stiff opposition from vested interest groups. For example there exists a lobby whose very existence is based on opposing any surface water scheme. For them it is necessary to insist that RWH alone is sufficient. They will indulge in their usual ploy of not making any computations themselves and rejecting any one else's computations.

Opposition to surface water scheme stems from ignorance about the scheme; due to a “fear of unknown”; due to a sincere belief that protecting the habitat of a snail is more important than providing food/ water to billions and last but not least, opposition as a vocation, posturing intended

IX. SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT: HOW EFFECTIVE HAS GROUNDWATER REGULATION BEING IN NORTH CHINA PLAIN

Jinxia Wang Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences [ ][email protected]

Faced with increasing demands and limited surface water supplies, farming communities in China began to turn to groundwater sources in the late 1960s, a trend that has accelerated through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Unfortunately, rising reliance on groundwater extraction has led to falling water tables and deteriorating water quality in north China. In order to promote the sustainable groundwater development, China's government has strengthened groundwater management by issuing some management regulations since the 1990s. Water regulations related with groundwater mainly include water withdrawal permit system, water resources fee, permit system for new tubewell and prohibiting exploitation in over extraction regions. The purpose of this short paper is to assess the implementation effectiveness of these regulations.

National regulation of water withdrawal permit system was issued in 1993; however, some provinces like Hebei in North have begun to implement this system as early as the late 1980s. According to the regulation, any institution or private people who draw water from river, lake and

groundwater through water projects or machinery must apply for water withdrawal permit license except for small volume water withdrawal. Groundwater withdrawal cannot exceed annual planned available groundwater exploitation volume under their administrative regions and it should accord with well layout and requirement of water withdrawal layer. Followed by issuing the withdrawal permit, water resources fee has been collected at the same time. In order to increase farmer income, groundwater permit system and groundwater resources fee have not been implemented in rural areas. Generally, withdrawal permit system has preliminarily prevented unauthorised exploitation of groundwater and environmental deterioration. However, management conflicts among water departments have made it hard to realize integrated groundwater management, one of the major purposes of withdrawal permit system. Separate water management system has reduced the overall effectiveness of the system. In addition, practices of the system vary greatly across regions. There are two major challenges facing with withdrawal permit system and water resources fee: the first

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is to implement them in rural areas; the second is to play the role in integrated water management.

Another important regulation is the permit system for new tubewells. No such national regulation has been issued and it is mainly in some north provinces, like Hebei Province. The purpose of this regulation is to prohibit groundwater over extraction by carefully examining feasibility of drilling new tubewells. If the new tubewell will be drilled in the overexploitation regions, the government will not issue the permit to drill. Based on our interview, some local officials believe that this regulation has played important role in sustaining groundwater use. However, the effectiveness of implementation is dubious. Based on our field survey, we found not all the new tubewells got the permit, even some tubewells have the permit, the owners do not understand the implication of the permit. Poor implementation is mainly due to relatively high administrative cost facing with many small farmers. Therefore, challenge for this regulation is how to strength the effective implementation and make it play role in prohibiting the irrational groundwater exploitation.

The latest regulation issued by the Ministry of Water Resources was in 2002; it is on prohibiting groundwater

exploitation in over extraction regions. In fact, some provinces like Jiangsu Province have begun this system since the early 2000. The purpose of this regulation is to promote the sustainable development of groundwater by severe administrative measures. According to the regulation, groundwater regions will be classified into several kinds based on their exploitation degree. If certain regions have been classified as over-exploitation regions, all the tubewell there will be closed. Some provinces like Jiangsu Province have implemented this system very well and water table drop has been arrested. Many north provinces have given the priority in implementing this regulation. The challenge for this regulation is how to effectively implement this policy in the long term and in more regions.

In summary, groundwater sustainability issues are attracting increasing attention from China's government. In order to improve groundwater management, several important regulations have been issued and the groundwater regulation system is being established. The challenge facing with groundwater regulation system is how to strengthen the effective implementation of these regulations in the long term.

Figure 14: A village leader in Hebei province displaysthe withdrawal permit issued to his village

Figure 13

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Sustained groundwater overdraft in Mexico poses serious challenges for social and economic development. One hundred of Mexico's principal aquifers are over-exploited, up from 38 in 1975. In the state of Guanajuato, which has over 12% of the wells and consumes 17% of agricultural electrical energy in Mexico, 16 of 19 aquifers are over-exploited and static water levels are dropping on average 2 m/year. Over two-thirds of groundwater pumped in the state is for irrigation. A series of institutional reforms is underway to address overdraft, including efforts to register wells with an annual volumetric concession and the formation of aquifer management councils (COTAS). However, groundwater demand management goals remain elusive for a combination of financial, social and institutional reasons.

Electrical energy supply and pricing are primary driving forces behind groundwater pumping for irrigation; policies to address groundwater overdraft must focus on energy-water linkages. With comparatively low per kilowatt-hour tariffs and readily available connections even for unregistered wells the financial disincentives for farmers to limit pumping are low. The minimum consumption slab agricultural energy tariff rose an annual 4.9% from 2001 to 2002 (8.1% in the average slab in Guanajuato); however, water still represents a small share of agricultural input costs. This paper reviews energy use for irrigation in Mexico with a particular focus on Guanajuato. The policy implications of linking electrical power pricing and supply with ongoing groundwater concessioning and user-based management in Mexico are explored. The recently adopted Rural Energy Law (December 2002), while intended to support Mexican farmers' competitiveness in the North American Free Trade Agreement, will have profound and

X. SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT: HAVE PROPERTY RIGHTS REFORMS HELPED IN MEXICO?

Christopher Scott IWMI-India [ ][email protected]

negative impacts on groundwater overdraft if it indeed reduces energy prices as envisioned.Groundwater management is a key challenge that requires regulatory and participatory approaches coupled with changes in demand behavior of pumpers. Where groundwater use is largely agricultural, cropping changes and water demand may be influenced by commodity prices; however, energy pricing and supply can be determinants of pumping behavior. Price must be high enough to be in the elastic range of demand response, while supply options can face social and political challenges. In Mexico, regulatory approaches to groundwater management have been in place and have been largely unsuccessful for over 50 years. The current well concessioning and licensing drive is important and should be continued; it is only after this process has been completed that users and regulators (whether government agencies or farmers' self-regulatory bodies) will have the information and access required to address overdraft. The recently passed Rural Energy Law will not ease groundwater pumping; in fact, it is likely to have the opposite effect. While the law may meet its primary objective of supporting the competitiveness of Mexican farmers, the medium and long-term sustainability of groundwater resources are not addressed (or the agricultural competitiveness based on dwindling groundwater resources in the key production areas). The silver lining in the cloud is perhaps represented in the projected tariff increases; however, whether these will submit to political compulsions remains to be seen.

Figure 15

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The principles of sustainable management of aquifers are well known. Yet, in many places they are not adhered to. The question that needs to be asked, therefore, is why are these principles not followed? There can be two answers to this question: ignorance and politics. Ignorance can take two forms. It can either stem from a lack of knowledge, or from the inability to communicate the principles to decision makers. In the case of Israel none of these would apply, as the aquifers have been well studied, and the dangers often raised. Thus, the cause for over-exploitation, at least in the Israeli case, is the politics associated with it.

The Israeli case is of general interest, as Israel has been one of the first countries to fully utilize its water resources, it is heavily dependent on groundwater, but has a relatively high capacity to address its water issues. Actually, Israel is often held as a paragon of careful management, as it employs many of the instruments suggested in various forums, such as centralized control, conjunctive use, metering and control of pumpage. The issues raised in the Israeli case may thus be illustrative for a wider set of situations, or clarify issues that may arise in the future in less stressed regions.

Israel has a sophisticated water management system. It is controlled by a Water Commissioner who holds extensive power that would be the envy of most water managers elsewhere. Yet, all aquifers in Israel have been severely depleted, as a result of several years of over-pumping followed by droughts. Thus it is clear that extensive power for an administrator will not necessarily lead to the implementation of a sustainable pumpage regime.

Over-pumping will not be addressed unless it is realized that over-pumping has a political-economy rationale. As decision makers prefer an uncertain loss to a certain loss (even if the mean value of the uncertain loss is higher that the certain loss), they prefer to mine the aquifer over a reduction in existing allocations to farmers. To counter this tendency it is necessary to establish an institutional structure that will make any such mining more difficult.

One of the main problems in the institutional structure in Israel is the lack of checks and balances. Essentially, the power to determine 'red lines' and to alter them is concentrated in the hands of the water commissioner. While he needs to consult with the Water Board, established under the 1959 Water Law, he needs not accept their advice. Moreover, this board is composed largely of farming interests, as these were seen at the time to be the main interests affected by water policies. Thus, this board only re-enforces the tendency of decision makers to defray

XI. SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT: HAS REGULATION WORKED IN ISRAEL, THE MECCA OF WATER MANAGEMENT?

Eran Feitelson The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel [ ][email protected]

any cut in allotments. For this reason the parliamentary inquiry commission suggested that it be re-structure to provide a better checks and balance system, and that representatives of green bodies be included in it. Yet, this will not change the basic situation whereby pumpage is under the sole jurisdiction of the water commissioner who can be easily forced by the responsible Minister to succumb to the pressures of the agricultural lobby, as has indeed happened time and time again.

The author suggests that a further step should be taken, whereby this board will be given a formal role as a policy setting body. Essentially, the determination of red lines and pumpage strategy will be determined by the board, while the water commissioner will be entrusted only with the day to day management of the water system. Thus, over-pumping will require the agreement of a wide set of interests.

The main issue that will need to be addressed is the composition of the revamped water board. In order to preclude rash decisions it is suggested that it include a substantial representation of 'green' bodies, in particular the Nature Reserves and National Parks Authority and environmental NGOs, of bodies whose concern is water quality, such as the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health, and independent water professionals, mainly from academia (who are thus not dependent on the water commissioner or infrastructure ministry for their livelihood). These should be augmented with different user groups (including farmers), the water commissioner, and the ministries of finance, tourism and national infrastructure. As 'green' bodies, the ministry of environment and water managers generally oppose over-pumping (for different reasons) it is likely that authorization of over-pumpage will face greater difficulties than at present.

In Israel a position of a commissioner for future generations has recently been created. The idea is to have someone who can voice the concerns of future generations in current discussions. As groundwater over-exploitation may have significant effects for future generations, this commissioner can also be added to the revamped water board, thereby adding an additional partner to the 'sustainable pumpage' coalition.

The over-exploitation of aquifers is often a logical outcome of political-economic processes. To counter-act these processes this paper suggests that a checks and balance system needs to be established. In essence, the purpose of such a system should be to provide a voice,

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and vote, to the multiple interests dependent on the groundwater or involved in its management, including nature and the future generations.

In Israel all major aquifers have been over-exploited, despite the wide-ranging power of the water commissioner. The pressures on some of the aquifers (particularly the western Mountain aquifer) can be expected to worsen if peace accords are reached, as they are shared with the Palestinians. Thus new institutional

structures will be needed also to manage the transboundary aspects of the aquifers. These will need to be developed over time, and include stakeholders from both parties.

The specific institutional structures will reflect, thus, the specific political, social and economic circumstances of each case. Yet, the principle of creating a structure where a sustainable pumpage coalition can be formed and have a standing should be seen as a requisite for the sustainable management of aquifers.

For more than a decade debates over groundwater management options in South Asia have been influenced by models drawn primarily from experiences in western, industrialized locations. While many of the groundwater problems such as the extensive overdraft in arid zones now emerging in South Asia are similar to problems in these locations, the wider context has fundamental differences. In addition, South Asia is undergoing processes of rapid social, economic, demographic and technological change. As a result, even as the need for groundwater management is emerging and becoming recognized, the context in which it must occur is shifting. This rapid process of change represents a fundamental challenge for conventional approaches to groundwater management.

A wide variety of pre-conditions are required for most conventional approaches to groundwater management and much of the debate in South Asia has focused on how those conditions can be created. Among other things, conventional approaches generally assume:

1. The existence of some form of organization that can function at the scale of a hydrologic unit, an aquifer, and has a specific groundwater management mandate;

2. Capacity within that organization to directly regulate or otherwise control aspects of groundwater development and use;

3. An enabling legal framework including, under most 'best practice' models, the existence of a system for well registration and ultimately a volumetrically based system of water rights;

4. The presence of basic scientific information on aquifer conditions and groundwater use; and

5. The ability to influence water or (as a proxy for) energy prices in ways that create economic incentives for efficient groundwater use.

In South Asia, despite much research and debate, little progress has been made over the last decade on most of these key pre-conditions for conventional management.

XII. SEARCHING FOR GROUNDWATER SOLUTIONS IN SOUTH ASIA: THE NEED FOR ADAPTIVE APPROACHESMarcus Moench Director, Institute for Social and Environmental Transition [ ][email protected]

More importantly, progress appears unlikely. While countries such as India have established groundwater management entities for a few strategic areas (such as the aquifer underlying New Delhi), no organizations currently exist that have the capacity to directly regulate or otherwise control groundwater use in many of the vast rural areas where overdraft is a significant concern. Basic scientific information on many key aquifers is limited, particularly with regard to many of the key hydrologic parameters essential for direct management. Legal frameworks governing groundwater extraction and use remain fragmentary. Debates over well registration and rights systems have, for example remained academic. On a practical level, even locating and registering the tens of millions of wells currently existing in India would be a massive task to say nothing of the technically complicated, and much more politically sensitive, question of establishing volumetric rights systems. Even conceptually straightforward questions regarding the impact of energy subsidies on incentives for groundwater extraction have proved politically difficult to resolve.

Compounding the above problems, and probably far more important than any of them individually, society in South Asia is undergoing a process of rapid transition. Populations are increasingly mobile. They are linked by economic, communication, transportation and social networks to urban areas and the wider world. “Globalization” is reshaping aspirations and economic systems. As a result, the incentive to manage groundwater resources, specific management needs and potential management options are, in many areas, undergoing equally rapid processes of change.

In this context, society needs to expand beyond conventional approaches to groundwater management. While such approaches remain very relevant in areas where they can be implemented, other much more adaptive strategies are clearly required. Little has, however been done to investigate how such strategies might be developed.

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Recent research under the IDRC financed Local Water Management Project (a collaborative research program implemented by a variety of par tners in India and Nepal) suggests key components for an adaptive approach to groundwater management. These include: (1) Far more emphasis on indirect points of leverage in government subsidy and economic policies; (2) Focusing conventional management on strategic aquifers; (3) Development of new strategies that encourage social and economic transition in directions that reflect water realities; and (4) adaptation of existing tools (such as insurance and economic development policies) to mitigate groundwater risks. Equally importantly, strategies must address basic issues of water governance. Effective governance requires, at

minimum, the generation of basic scientific information, freedom of access to information, the right to organize, support for social auditors (organizations providing basic critical and publicly available insights into water management options), and effective forums for negotiation and dispute resolution. While the features we see as essential to effective water governance do not r epresent solutions to specific groundwater problems they create the conditions from which solutions adapted to local conditions can evolve. Equally importantly, the core elements of governance are essential so for solutions to evolve and respond as conditions change. At a global level, debates must move beyond narrowly defined notions of 'best practice' to the creation of capacity and governance systems that enable local solutions to emerge and evolve.

XIII. STRATEGIC APPROACHES TO INDIRECT MANAGEMENT OF THE GROUNDWATER ECONOMY

Tushaar Shah IWMI-India [ ][email protected]

IWMI has been engaged in recent years in a comparative study on groundwater management institutions and policies in South Asia, North China and Mexico, three regions of the world where agriculture, food and livelihoods depend heavily on intensive use of groundwater which is becoming increasingly unsustainable. Table 3 summarizes our key conclusions from such a

comparative analysis. Our overriding impression is that South Asian countries have not even begun to address the problem in any serious manner; China has but will take time before its initiatives bear fruit. Mexico has gone by far the furthest in creating a legal and property rights structure that might be drawing a leaf from an institutional economics text book. Interestingly, we find no

Table 3: Groundwater Governance: Comparative Analysis of Institutions and Policies in South Asia, China,and Mexico

South Asia China Mexico

1. Government share in GW Miniscule; <0.01% No Noprovision to agriculture

2. State provision of GW to Significant significant Significanturban settlements

3. State participation in GW Yes Yes Yesmonitoring

4. Incentives to private investment Significant in India andin groundwater development Sri Lanka, often None or insignificant None

perverse; discontinued inPakistan, Nepal, B-Desh

5. Incentives to operating costs Huge in India; less in Nil or insignificant Yes, energy subsidiesother countries

6. Targeted disincentives in capital None None Noneor operating costs

7. Registration of GW structures No No Yes

8. Permits to abstract groundwater No Yes, but mostly to Yes, but water quantitiesvillages, municipalities unenforceable

And industries

9. Promotion of water saving Ineffective Yes, strong sometechnologies

10. Promotion of small-scale water Strong in western India; South-North water t Yes, in highlands whereharvesting and recharge works but growing elsewhere in ransfers bordo's are the mainstay

hard rock India of livestock farmers

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evidence that these have helped Mexico move towards sustainability; and that Mexico's efforts need to produce better results before they can be held out as a model that other groundwater-using countries can follow. However, our comparative analysis does suggest the outline of a framework that tells us what might work where.

How countries respond to the challenge of sustainable management of their groundwater economies depends on a constellation of factors that defines the peculiar context of each country. This constellation of factors differs vastly across regions and countries; and these differences have decisive impact on whether an approach that has worked in one country will work in another with a different context. As a simple illustration of this point, table 6 sets out some

Country Annual GW Use No of GW Structures Extraction/ % of Population 3 3(km ) (million) Structure (m /year) Dependent on GW

India 150 19 7900 55-60

Pakistan-Punjab 45 0.5 90000 60-65

China 75 3.5 21500 22-25

Iran 29 0.5 58000 12-18

Mexico 29 0.07 414285 5-6

USA 100 0.2 500,000 <1-2

Table 4: Structure of National Groundwater Economies

key variables that define the organization of the groundwater economy in six different countries which make intensive use of groundwater in agriculture. The US

3uses around 100 km of groundwater for irrigation; but to manage its economy, it has to monitor and regulate only around 200,000 pumping plants, each producing around

3500,000 m of groundwater/year. Mexico is in the same 3league as the USA. India uses 150 km ; but to manage this

groundwater economy, it has to manage the owners of over 20 million small wells, each producing an average of

38000 m of water/year. Clearly, the task of US groundwater managers is enormously simpler compared to their Indian counterparts. With just 95,000 agricultural tubewells, the task of governing Mexico's groundwater economy is even simpler.

The nature of the political system also matters. Iran has been able to impose a complete ban on sinking of new tubewells throughout its central plains that encompass

rd2/3 of the entire country. But Mexico has been trying to ban new tubewells in its bajio for 50 years, and has yet not succeeded. China has a large number of tubewells scattered over a huge country-side; yet chances are that over the coming decade, it will be able not only bring these within the ambit of its permit system but also succeed in influencing their operation. Doing something like this in

India or Pakistan will remain unrealistic for a long time to come because of their political structures and systems.Besides what is feasible and practical, there is also the question of social impacts of approaches adopted. In Mexico and the US, where a miniscule proportion of people depend on groundwater for livelihoods, governments may easily adopt a tough regulatory posture. In South Asia, where over half of the total population may directly or indirectly depend on groundwater use for their livelihood, it is not surprising that political and administrative leadership is reluctant to even talk about regulating groundwater use, leave alone acting on it. In point of fact even in China, where political resistance from farmers is not an overriding issue, and Mexico where

irrigator class is small enough to be ignored, governments have steered clear of tough regulatory measures.

Table 5 lists a tentative set of 'contingencies' that seem to influence the way different countries respond to groundwater over-development. Countries where public systems will aggressively manage the groundwater economy by proactively intervening in demand and well as supply side will have some of all of the context factors in the middle column aligned in an enabling mode, as outlined in the right-hand column. Where some or all of the context factors operate in a disabling mode, public intervention will tend to be absent, or half-hearted or even perverse; here, proactive response to groundwater depletion will commonly be in the form of projects to enhance supply rather than containing demand. This is perhaps why no amount of opposition from within or outside will deflect China from its mega-project for South-North water transfer; and no matter how much scholars emphasize the upstream-downstream externalities of decentralized water harvesting and recharge, governments and communities in western and southern India will for long pursue these proactively as a strategy of sustaining groundwater irrigation and a more equitable allocation of a basin's water between catchment areas and downstream irrigation commands.

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Table 5: Overall Context and National Strategies for Groundwater Management

Under-Managed Resourcewith Accent on Supply-Side Measures

Low (South Asia)Capacity, Reach and

Effectiveness of WaterBureaucracy

High (China, Mexico)

Weak and Unwilling to ImplementHard Measures (India, Sri Lanka,Pakistan, Nepal)

Numerous Small Users( South Asia; North China plains)

Agri. Contribution toGDP>30-50%; Popu. Dependenton Farming: >50% (South Asia)

High (South Asia)

Water Rights as an Easement ofLand Ownership (Asia)

Low (South Asia)

India, Iran

Low (South Asia)

Larger Social and PoliticalContext

Political System: Central andLocal Authority Structures

Organization of the GroundwaterEconomy

Stage of Economic Development

Relative Significance ofGroundwater Economy toNational and Household

Food and Livelihoods Security

Structure of Property Rights onLand and Water

Experience and Effectivenesswith using Law to Regulate

People's Behaviour

Perverse Incentives in GWIrrigation (energy subsidies;

tubewell subsidies)

Economics of GroundwaterIrrigation: Benefit-Cost Ratio

Conducive to Demand andSupply-Side Management

Capable of Tough Measures(e.g., Iran; China, Pakistan underEarly Years of Military Rule)

Few Large Users (as in US,Mexico, Iran)

Agri. Contri. To GDP<10%;Popu. Dependent on Farming:<20% (US; Mexico; Spain)

Low (US; Mexico; Spain)

Water Rights Independent ofLand Rights (Mexico'sConcessions)

High ( Europe; US)

Low (China, Pakistan, Mexico)

High (as in North China; Mexico)

Many of these contextual factorssuch as political system, nature of local authority structures--seem best taken as given; in any case, these are unlikely to change to overcome groundwater depletion and degradation. The only major contextual variable that may change and produce far reaching impact on groundwater stress in many regions of Asia is overall economic progress. In the medium to long run, economic progress may be the biggest source of increased stress on water resources as well as the most powerful safety valve.

This is because Asia's socio-ecologies under severe groundwater stress are dominated by agricultural sectors that serve as the parking lot for their rural poor. Majority of South Asian and North China farmers are into farming because they can not find off-farm livelihoods. With growing non-agricultural sectors of these economies, it is very likely that population pressure on agriculture will ease. With groundwater use in agriculture becoming less of a livelihoods issue and more of a food security issue, we can expect that demand management will increasingly become politically more acceptable. There is increasing indicative

evidence that overall management of national water sectorsas well as access to water and sanitation-seem to depend more on the stage of economic development of a country than on its endowments of water resources.

Figure 16, based on ongoing IWMI’s analysis using recently released Water Poverty Index, shows that 'Water Access Poverty' an indicator of the extent to which countries can provide access to water for agricultural, domestic, industrial and environmental sectors is determined more by the PPP-adjusted per capita income of the 154 countries covered than by their water endowments. Similarly, Figure 17 shows that the quality of water environment too follows the Environmental Kuznet's curve: at early stages of economic growth, when the use of water as a factor of wealth creation is low, the quality of water environment is high; it tends to decline as economies grow and indulge in intensive use of water in agriculture and industry. However, as incomes improve, there is internal demand and support for 'environmental amenity', which results in more proactive management of water and other natural resources. Until the majority of a

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y = 0.102x + 5.727

R2 = 0.6836

0

5

10

15

20

25

Countries in ascending order of PPP adjusted GDP

Index

ofW

aterA

ccess

0.00

5000.00

10000.00

15000.00

20000.00

25000.00

30000.00

35000.00

40000.00

AccessResourcesGNP per caput PPP adjusted (US $)Linear (Access)

Figure 17: Environmental Kuznets Curve for Water

y = 0.0005x2 - 0.0518x + 11.346

R2 = 0.2935

R2

y = -0.003x + 9.3431

= 0.001

0

5

10

15

20

25

Countries in ascending order of PPP adjusted GDP

Wa

ter

En

vir

on

me

nt

Ind

ex

0.00

5000.00

10000.00

15000.00

20000.00

25000.00

30000.00

35000.00

40000.00

Resources Environment

GNP per caput PPP adjusted (US $) Poly. (Environment)

Linear (Resources)

Figure 16: Water Access Index and PPP-adjusted GNP/capita (US $)

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nation's people are driven by livelihoods concern, as is the case in much of South Asia and North China plains, governments and water sector managers will continue to face resistance to demand management and regulation. In the long run, then, economic growth may provide the biggest safety valve that may release the inexorable pressure experienced by natural resources, in particular groundwater.

In discovering windows for sustainable management of national groundwater economies, then, it seems crucial to focus on the broader micro, meso and macro-level adjustment processes that will shape the interaction between resource use and broader socio-economic change. In understanding these adjustment processes, IWMI's ongoing work suggests strong need to distinguish between regions with hard rock formations with 'bounded aquifers'

from regions with alluvial aquifers. In the hard rock areas, after a threshold of groundwater development is reached, farming communities seek out approaches to managing their groundwater resources from monsoon-to-monsoon basis. In India, adoption of rain water harvesting, decentralized groundwater recharge, micro-irrigation technologies and water saving crops is maximum in hard rock areas where farming communities are forced to view their aquifers as water bank accounts. In the alluvial areas of South Asia as well as North China plains, where tubewell owners can continue their extraction apace by regularly deepening their wells, farming communities' seem supremely unresponsive to demand management interventions or to water saving farming technologies. In these latter regions, proactive demand management is of paramount significance.

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IWMI-Tata WATER POLICY PROGRAMElecon, Anand-Sojitra Road Vallabh Vidyanagar, 388120, Gujarat, IndiaTelephone: 91-2692-229311-12-13Fax : 91-2692-229310E-mail:Website:

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International Water Management Institute

IWMI is one of the 16 Future Harvest Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The research program of IWMI centers around five core themes: Integrated Water Resource Management for Agriculture; Sustainable Smallholder Water & Land Management Systems; Sustainable Groundwater Management; Water, Health and Environment; and Water Resources institutions and Policy.

Sustainable Groundwater Management

The goal of IWMI's research in groundwater is to contribute to achieving sustainable use and management of groundwater in ways that promote food and livelihood security for the poor women and Men in Asia and Africa. Under IWMI's strategic plan 2000-2005, ongoing research under this theme has five priorities: [1] Assessment of the extent of groundwater use, its economic value and contribution to agrarian wealth creation; [2] Understanding Basin level impacts of local water harvesting and recharge; [3] Exploring linkages between groundwater irrigation and rural poverty; [4] Analyzing approaches to conjunctive use of surface and groundwater; and [5] Identifying practical approaches to sustainable groundwater management through comparative analysis of institutions and policies.

IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program

The IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program was launched in 2000 with the support of Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai. The program presents new perspectives and practical solutions derived from the wealth of research done in India on water resource management. Its objective is to help policy makers at the central, state and local levels address their water challenges in areas such as sustainable groundwater management, water scarcity, and rural poverty by translating research findings into practical policy recommendations.