recharge rate (Custodio 2002). Large-scale, granular groundwater access in India
has led to serious impacts of groundwater depletion and contamination. While
alarm bells rang louder when global estimates, including particularly the estimates
on groundwater depletion and contamination in the Indo-Gangetic region were
presented by international researchers (Rodell et al. 2009; MacDonald et al. 2016),
the latest figures presented in CGWB’s periodic assessments clearly state the
glaring facts. Some 32% of India’s sub-district administrative units—blocks and
talukas—have become unsafe (semi-critical, critical or overexploited) or have high
levels of salinity (CGWB 2017). What is even more glaring are the degrees of
contamination of groundwater by fluoride and arsenic. The Ministry of Drinking
Water Supply and Sanitation (2018) reports that we have problems of high Fluoride
in 203 districts, Ironin 206 districts and Arsenic in 35 districts. Fluorosis is estimated to afflict 65 million and Arsenicosis around 10 million people in India.
Apart from the above, one of the largest knowledge gaps in India pertains to the
environmental role of groundwater. Large-scale inclusion of groundwater in both,
global development reporting and the ecosystem debates is relatively recent (CGIAR
2015; WWAP 2012). Groundwater resources are as important in ecosystems as they
are in providing services to anthropogenic needs such as domestic, agricultural and
industrial water supplies. Aquifers are relevant to both ecosystems such as forests
and wetlands and their ecosystem services. Forests and wetlands have figured in
discussion on ecosystem and ecosystem services for a long time now. Groundwater,
only recently and not as much! As aquifers are ‘developed’ and then subsequently
over-extracted, one of the first visible impacts is often in the form of base flow
depletion, with streams and rivers drying up (Macdonald et al. 1995). The stocks and
flows in aquifers, determined primarily by their transmission and flow characteristics, provide a variety of services to both human and ecosystem needs as aquifers
also support a variety of habitats, primarily through seeps, springs and base flow
contribution to river flows. In a monsoonal climate, such as in India, base flow from
groundwater is a relatively small but seasonally significant flow that keeps streams
and rivers flowing during the dry periods of the annual hydrologic cycle.
There are clear social, economic and environmental consequences of groundwater depletion and contamination, leading to serious forms of morbidity and even
mortality. The proliferation of wells in India is a classic example of how increased
individual access to groundwater has often defeated the goal of managing aquifers
as a common pool resource. Community wells have given way to individual access
such as is evident in some programmes of the Government of Maharashtra, for
instance, where the slogan of ‘whoever asks for a well or a farm pond, will be given
one (by the State)’. Consequently, the concept of ‘water resources held in trust’ by
the community has been replaced by a competitive and conflict-ridden arena of
sourcing, access and distribution of groundwater resources. The crisis of groundwater in India can be addressed only through a return to the principles of common
pool resources, principles that not only address converting competition to
co-operation but also help in bringing communities closer to their aquifers.
Having said that, it is also important to recognize that aquifers in India are as
diverse as the social milieu that define groundwater usage. The social milieu is
Catalysing Groundwater Governance Through People’s …
7
has led to serious impacts of groundwater depletion and contamination. While
alarm bells rang louder when global estimates, including particularly the estimates
on groundwater depletion and contamination in the Indo-Gangetic region were
presented by international researchers (Rodell et al. 2009; MacDonald et al. 2016),
the latest figures presented in CGWB’s periodic assessments clearly state the
glaring facts. Some 32% of India’s sub-district administrative units—blocks and
talukas—have become unsafe (semi-critical, critical or overexploited) or have high
levels of salinity (CGWB 2017). What is even more glaring are the degrees of
contamination of groundwater by fluoride and arsenic. The Ministry of Drinking
Water Supply and Sanitation (2018) reports that we have problems of high Fluoride
in 203 districts, Ironin 206 districts and Arsenic in 35 districts. Fluorosis is estimated to afflict 65 million and Arsenicosis around 10 million people in India.
Apart from the above, one of the largest knowledge gaps in India pertains to the
environmental role of groundwater. Large-scale inclusion of groundwater in both,
global development reporting and the ecosystem debates is relatively recent (CGIAR
2015; WWAP 2012). Groundwater resources are as important in ecosystems as they
are in providing services to anthropogenic needs such as domestic, agricultural and
industrial water supplies. Aquifers are relevant to both ecosystems such as forests
and wetlands and their ecosystem services. Forests and wetlands have figured in
discussion on ecosystem and ecosystem services for a long time now. Groundwater,
only recently and not as much! As aquifers are ‘developed’ and then subsequently
over-extracted, one of the first visible impacts is often in the form of base flow
depletion, with streams and rivers drying up (Macdonald et al. 1995). The stocks and
flows in aquifers, determined primarily by their transmission and flow characteristics, provide a variety of services to both human and ecosystem needs as aquifers
also support a variety of habitats, primarily through seeps, springs and base flow
contribution to river flows. In a monsoonal climate, such as in India, base flow from
groundwater is a relatively small but seasonally significant flow that keeps streams
and rivers flowing during the dry periods of the annual hydrologic cycle.
There are clear social, economic and environmental consequences of groundwater depletion and contamination, leading to serious forms of morbidity and even
mortality. The proliferation of wells in India is a classic example of how increased
individual access to groundwater has often defeated the goal of managing aquifers
as a common pool resource. Community wells have given way to individual access
such as is evident in some programmes of the Government of Maharashtra, for
instance, where the slogan of ‘whoever asks for a well or a farm pond, will be given
one (by the State)’. Consequently, the concept of ‘water resources held in trust’ by
the community has been replaced by a competitive and conflict-ridden arena of
sourcing, access and distribution of groundwater resources. The crisis of groundwater in India can be addressed only through a return to the principles of common
pool resources, principles that not only address converting competition to
co-operation but also help in bringing communities closer to their aquifers.
Having said that, it is also important to recognize that aquifers in India are as
diverse as the social milieu that define groundwater usage. The social milieu is
Catalysing Groundwater Governance Through People’s …
7