Catalysing Groundwater Governance
Through People’s Participation
and Institutional Reform
Himanshu Kulkarni, Dhaval Joshi, Uma Aslekar and Siddharth Patil
Abstract India’s groundwater usage is the largest in the world. Nearly, all sectors,
especially rural domestic water and water in agriculture, have large-scale dependencies on groundwater resources. Groundwater exploitation, without due consideration to the concept of aquifers as common pool resources, has led to the dual
problem of groundwater depletion and contamination. Groundwater depletion has
also led to depletion in river flow. Competition over groundwater resources has slowly
emerged as a complex problem across India’s diverse aquifer typology, sometimes
leading to conflict. The rise in the number of wells across the small land holdings in
India has meant that groundwater extraction occurs at high granularity, making it
difficult for large-scale data and information to capture the reality of problems of the
ground. The social, economic and environmental consequences of groundwater
over-extraction in India is as much related to the variability in the transmission and
storage properties of different aquifers as it is about the diversity in the social context
of people who use groundwater resources. Community-based norms on managing
groundwater resources have been one of the emergent areas of responding to the crisis
of groundwater management in the field. Policy, on the other hand, has been toying
with conventional regulatory responses, mainly through groundwater legislation.
The gap between the policy and practice of groundwater management is quite wide
and requires a combination of groundwater management and governance.
Institutionalizing the integration of groundwater management and governance,
although seemingly challenging, has become crucial in addressing India’s groundwater crises. Combining demystified science, people’s participation and institutional
reform to bring to the fore the concept of aquifers as common pool resources can form
a solid foundation for catalysing groundwater governance in India.
Keywords Aquifer typology Á People’s participation Á Community-based norms Á
Institutions
H. Kulkarni (&) Á D. Joshi Á U. Aslekar Á S. Patil
Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM)
Pune, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
G. Chadha and A. B. Pandya (eds.), Water Governance and Management in India,
Water Resources Development and Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1472-9_1
1
Through People’s Participation
and Institutional Reform
Himanshu Kulkarni, Dhaval Joshi, Uma Aslekar and Siddharth Patil
Abstract India’s groundwater usage is the largest in the world. Nearly, all sectors,
especially rural domestic water and water in agriculture, have large-scale dependencies on groundwater resources. Groundwater exploitation, without due consideration to the concept of aquifers as common pool resources, has led to the dual
problem of groundwater depletion and contamination. Groundwater depletion has
also led to depletion in river flow. Competition over groundwater resources has slowly
emerged as a complex problem across India’s diverse aquifer typology, sometimes
leading to conflict. The rise in the number of wells across the small land holdings in
India has meant that groundwater extraction occurs at high granularity, making it
difficult for large-scale data and information to capture the reality of problems of the
ground. The social, economic and environmental consequences of groundwater
over-extraction in India is as much related to the variability in the transmission and
storage properties of different aquifers as it is about the diversity in the social context
of people who use groundwater resources. Community-based norms on managing
groundwater resources have been one of the emergent areas of responding to the crisis
of groundwater management in the field. Policy, on the other hand, has been toying
with conventional regulatory responses, mainly through groundwater legislation.
The gap between the policy and practice of groundwater management is quite wide
and requires a combination of groundwater management and governance.
Institutionalizing the integration of groundwater management and governance,
although seemingly challenging, has become crucial in addressing India’s groundwater crises. Combining demystified science, people’s participation and institutional
reform to bring to the fore the concept of aquifers as common pool resources can form
a solid foundation for catalysing groundwater governance in India.
Keywords Aquifer typology Á People’s participation Á Community-based norms Á
Institutions
H. Kulkarni (&) Á D. Joshi Á U. Aslekar Á S. Patil
Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM)
Pune, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
G. Chadha and A. B. Pandya (eds.), Water Governance and Management in India,
Water Resources Development and Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1472-9_1
1