technology innovations, both of which require a separate chapter, beyond the scope
of this one. Despite more than 5000 large dams, their distribution networks and
centralized water supply systems to many towns and cities, groundwater usage
continues to grow in myriad ways through the farms of India’s hinterlands and the
by-lanes of its towns and cities. The consequences, simply put, are in the form of
profound impacts of severe depletion of groundwater resources, serious effects on
groundwater quality leading to groundwater contamination and ungauged effects on
river flow through base flow depletion. However, what is even more intriguing is
the degree of neglect by water practice and policy despite a growing dependency
and deepening crisis surrounding India’s aquifers and its river systems. Moreover,
public water supply delivery still remains aloof of this paradox on groundwater,
implying the need for a serious relook into the questions surrounding groundwater
governance in India’s diverse groundwater setting.
Understanding the intricate linkages between the science of groundwater and the
societal aspects of the resource has become very relevant to the field of global water
management (Burke and Moench 2000). The contextual diversity of India’s
groundwater resources cannot be complete without understanding the complex
dynamics between the large-scale consumptive and productive anthropogenic
demands and the subtle services that groundwater provides to the environment. The
tacit competition between the demands for life (drinking water and sanitation),
livelihoods and food security (agriculture), production services (industry) and
ecosystem services (base flows and springs that sustain natural flows and stocks in
the environment) deserves more attention than it is getting today. Adding to this is
the dimension of community-managed systems of water such as the traditional
concepts of water–users associations and even the more recent but eroded systems
of equitable water distribution called the Pani Panchayats (Deshpande and Reddy
1990), both of which are based on the principles of managing and governing water
as common pool resources.
India’s groundwater footprint is quite unique and requires a different paradigm of
management and governance. While synthesis of the problem of groundwater
depletion and contamination is quite elaborately discussed, the specific subject of
groundwater governance is actually a more recent development that needs deeper
insights from the ground. Globally too, groundwater governance is being synthesized
through many lenses, including that of regulation and participation (Molle and Closas
2017), also providing the opportunity to look at a fairly new topic through varied
prisms. It has become necessary to revisit the subject of groundwater governance,
particularly in India, because of the fuzziness between groundwater management and
governance. Moreover, the need for participatory science and decentralized
science-based decision-making form the two pillars on which groundwater governance thinking must move forward in India (Joshi et al. 2019). This paper delves into
the dichotomy of groundwater management and governance and the need to bridge the
gap between these two for groundwater governance to become an effective tool in the
complex world of managing India’s aquifers as common pool resources. The paper
largely bears reference to groundwater governance for rural India and has major
implications for agriculture and rural drinking water in India.
Catalysing Groundwater Governance Through People’s …
3
of this one. Despite more than 5000 large dams, their distribution networks and
centralized water supply systems to many towns and cities, groundwater usage
continues to grow in myriad ways through the farms of India’s hinterlands and the
by-lanes of its towns and cities. The consequences, simply put, are in the form of
profound impacts of severe depletion of groundwater resources, serious effects on
groundwater quality leading to groundwater contamination and ungauged effects on
river flow through base flow depletion. However, what is even more intriguing is
the degree of neglect by water practice and policy despite a growing dependency
and deepening crisis surrounding India’s aquifers and its river systems. Moreover,
public water supply delivery still remains aloof of this paradox on groundwater,
implying the need for a serious relook into the questions surrounding groundwater
governance in India’s diverse groundwater setting.
Understanding the intricate linkages between the science of groundwater and the
societal aspects of the resource has become very relevant to the field of global water
management (Burke and Moench 2000). The contextual diversity of India’s
groundwater resources cannot be complete without understanding the complex
dynamics between the large-scale consumptive and productive anthropogenic
demands and the subtle services that groundwater provides to the environment. The
tacit competition between the demands for life (drinking water and sanitation),
livelihoods and food security (agriculture), production services (industry) and
ecosystem services (base flows and springs that sustain natural flows and stocks in
the environment) deserves more attention than it is getting today. Adding to this is
the dimension of community-managed systems of water such as the traditional
concepts of water–users associations and even the more recent but eroded systems
of equitable water distribution called the Pani Panchayats (Deshpande and Reddy
1990), both of which are based on the principles of managing and governing water
as common pool resources.
India’s groundwater footprint is quite unique and requires a different paradigm of
management and governance. While synthesis of the problem of groundwater
depletion and contamination is quite elaborately discussed, the specific subject of
groundwater governance is actually a more recent development that needs deeper
insights from the ground. Globally too, groundwater governance is being synthesized
through many lenses, including that of regulation and participation (Molle and Closas
2017), also providing the opportunity to look at a fairly new topic through varied
prisms. It has become necessary to revisit the subject of groundwater governance,
particularly in India, because of the fuzziness between groundwater management and
governance. Moreover, the need for participatory science and decentralized
science-based decision-making form the two pillars on which groundwater governance thinking must move forward in India (Joshi et al. 2019). This paper delves into
the dichotomy of groundwater management and governance and the need to bridge the
gap between these two for groundwater governance to become an effective tool in the
complex world of managing India’s aquifers as common pool resources. The paper
largely bears reference to groundwater governance for rural India and has major
implications for agriculture and rural drinking water in India.
Catalysing Groundwater Governance Through People’s …
3