defined not only by the social and economic context of a region—which again is
often rooted in the culture of a region—but also on the system of aquifers and their
status of exploitation and contamination. Aquifer systems are defined primarily by
the geology of a region and by the properties of rock types that govern the accumulation and movement of groundwater in aquifers. The storage capacity of an
aquifer, known as storativity and the capacity of the aquifer to transmit groundwater, known as transmissivity are called aquifer characteristics. Both these vary,
depending upon how different geological formations constitute aquifers. Table 1
shows the distribution of India’s broad aquifer systems and the percentage of the
areas underlain by aquifers under various degrees of exploitation, in each of these
aquifer systems.
3 Groundwater Management and Governance:
The Practice and Policy Dilemma
Civilizations in different parts of the world have been depending on groundwater
resources for many centuries. The legacy of groundwater usage until the nineteenth
century involved a combination of widespread access from shallow sources such a
community dug wells, springs and qantas followed by inventions that involved
human and animal traction (after Moench et al. 2013), through technologies such as
the Persian Wheel. One can therefore presume that such systems must have
included a strong component of governance by the social and political systems
prevalent at different periods in history. The unprecedented growth of groundwater
dependency across the world, and especially in Asia, is often cited as a revolution
by millions of users, especially farmers (Fornés et al. 2007; Shah 2009), who,
largely with their own investments created access to groundwater for irrigation.
This growth has fuelled the improved security of water supplies, both for domestic
and agricultural needs across the world. At the same time, it has clearly brought
Table 1 Estimated percentage of areas in each broad type of aquifer system, which is under some
degree of groundwater exploitation
Aquifer typology
Area (km
2
)
Percentage of total area
which is in the three categories
of groundwater exploitation (%)
Alluvial (unconsolidated) systems
931,832
18
Mountain systems
525,067
0
Volcanic systems
525,036
7
Sedimentary (soft rock) systems
85,436
0
Sedimentary (hard rock) systems
194,798
2
Crystalline (basement) systems
1,023,639
10
Total
3,285,808
38
Note Aquifer typology is based on Kulkarni (2005), Kulkarni et al. (2015) and estimates of
groundwater exploitation are based on CGWB (2017)
8
H. Kulkarni et al.
often rooted in the culture of a region—but also on the system of aquifers and their
status of exploitation and contamination. Aquifer systems are defined primarily by
the geology of a region and by the properties of rock types that govern the accumulation and movement of groundwater in aquifers. The storage capacity of an
aquifer, known as storativity and the capacity of the aquifer to transmit groundwater, known as transmissivity are called aquifer characteristics. Both these vary,
depending upon how different geological formations constitute aquifers. Table 1
shows the distribution of India’s broad aquifer systems and the percentage of the
areas underlain by aquifers under various degrees of exploitation, in each of these
aquifer systems.
3 Groundwater Management and Governance:
The Practice and Policy Dilemma
Civilizations in different parts of the world have been depending on groundwater
resources for many centuries. The legacy of groundwater usage until the nineteenth
century involved a combination of widespread access from shallow sources such a
community dug wells, springs and qantas followed by inventions that involved
human and animal traction (after Moench et al. 2013), through technologies such as
the Persian Wheel. One can therefore presume that such systems must have
included a strong component of governance by the social and political systems
prevalent at different periods in history. The unprecedented growth of groundwater
dependency across the world, and especially in Asia, is often cited as a revolution
by millions of users, especially farmers (Fornés et al. 2007; Shah 2009), who,
largely with their own investments created access to groundwater for irrigation.
This growth has fuelled the improved security of water supplies, both for domestic
and agricultural needs across the world. At the same time, it has clearly brought
Table 1 Estimated percentage of areas in each broad type of aquifer system, which is under some
degree of groundwater exploitation
Aquifer typology
Area (km
2
)
Percentage of total area
which is in the three categories
of groundwater exploitation (%)
Alluvial (unconsolidated) systems
931,832
18
Mountain systems
525,067
0
Volcanic systems
525,036
7
Sedimentary (soft rock) systems
85,436
0
Sedimentary (hard rock) systems
194,798
2
Crystalline (basement) systems
1,023,639
10
Total
3,285,808
38
Note Aquifer typology is based on Kulkarni (2005), Kulkarni et al. (2015) and estimates of
groundwater exploitation are based on CGWB (2017)
8
H. Kulkarni et al.