Table 4 Broad canvass of groundwater management protocols across India’s diverse aquifer
typology
Aquifer
typology
Hydrogeological character and situational
elements including potential threats
Relevance of specific elements of
groundwater protocol in prioritizing
mechanisms of groundwater
governance
Himalayan
mountain
system
Springs and streams fed by glaciers, snow melt
and rain along with discharges from low
storage, moderately transmissive aquifers.
Estimates indicate the presence of 2 million
springs that support at least 60% of the
population. Increasing urban pressures leading
to a competition between wells, bore holes and
spring water, sometimes from the same
aquifer. Evidence of long-term decrease in
precipitation, changing land-use and
land-cover and changes in ecosystem elements
like wetlands are leading to depleting water
sources, especially springs
Springshed management, including
protection of recharge areas as part of
conservation; protecting and
managing the springs themselves from
competition by wells in the same
aquifer; Spring-water management
planned on the basis of
spring-discharge and variability in this
discharge; Spring-water distribution is
possible largely through gravity-based
systems, with exogenous energy being
reserved only for lifting naturally
available spring water and not for
extraction from the aquifer; Protecting
a spring source from interference with
artificially created sources like wells
(many of which have extraction
devices like energized pumps) is
necessary; crop water budgeting in
mountain agriculture can be planned
on spring-discharge seasonal
variabilities in discharge; groundwater
user groups can be designed around
both, individual springs or a cluster of
springs as a comprehensive strategy of
groundwater governance
Alluvial
system
Large storage, transmissive aquifers that are
either heavily depleted due to over-extraction
or are still in a state of reasonable balance.
Springs, seeps, wetlands, lakes are coming
under pressure from intense competition with
tube well drilling. Major challenges in
groundwater quality, including arsenic and
even radioactive elements. Groundwater
access is challenged in some areas by
flood-proneness
Recharge activities should be based
upon the geometry and situation of
aquifers; natural recharge areas may
be distant from the areas where
extraction takes place; generally, well
yields are high and reasonably
consistent in an area, so, the focus
should be on avoiding undesired
competition through lateral
interference of wells; controlling
heavy duty individual irrigation wells
becomes a priority through managing
energy inputs; crop water budgeting
may be effective if groundwater
balances at the scales of villages are
attempted (and even if these are not
representative of aquifer-level
groundwater balances); water user
groups or co-operatives have to be a
larger scales or clusters for sharing
both controls and benefits
(continued)
18
H. Kulkarni et al.
typology
Aquifer
typology
Hydrogeological character and situational
elements including potential threats
Relevance of specific elements of
groundwater protocol in prioritizing
mechanisms of groundwater
governance
Himalayan
mountain
system
Springs and streams fed by glaciers, snow melt
and rain along with discharges from low
storage, moderately transmissive aquifers.
Estimates indicate the presence of 2 million
springs that support at least 60% of the
population. Increasing urban pressures leading
to a competition between wells, bore holes and
spring water, sometimes from the same
aquifer. Evidence of long-term decrease in
precipitation, changing land-use and
land-cover and changes in ecosystem elements
like wetlands are leading to depleting water
sources, especially springs
Springshed management, including
protection of recharge areas as part of
conservation; protecting and
managing the springs themselves from
competition by wells in the same
aquifer; Spring-water management
planned on the basis of
spring-discharge and variability in this
discharge; Spring-water distribution is
possible largely through gravity-based
systems, with exogenous energy being
reserved only for lifting naturally
available spring water and not for
extraction from the aquifer; Protecting
a spring source from interference with
artificially created sources like wells
(many of which have extraction
devices like energized pumps) is
necessary; crop water budgeting in
mountain agriculture can be planned
on spring-discharge seasonal
variabilities in discharge; groundwater
user groups can be designed around
both, individual springs or a cluster of
springs as a comprehensive strategy of
groundwater governance
Alluvial
system
Large storage, transmissive aquifers that are
either heavily depleted due to over-extraction
or are still in a state of reasonable balance.
Springs, seeps, wetlands, lakes are coming
under pressure from intense competition with
tube well drilling. Major challenges in
groundwater quality, including arsenic and
even radioactive elements. Groundwater
access is challenged in some areas by
flood-proneness
Recharge activities should be based
upon the geometry and situation of
aquifers; natural recharge areas may
be distant from the areas where
extraction takes place; generally, well
yields are high and reasonably
consistent in an area, so, the focus
should be on avoiding undesired
competition through lateral
interference of wells; controlling
heavy duty individual irrigation wells
becomes a priority through managing
energy inputs; crop water budgeting
may be effective if groundwater
balances at the scales of villages are
attempted (and even if these are not
representative of aquifer-level
groundwater balances); water user
groups or co-operatives have to be a
larger scales or clusters for sharing
both controls and benefits
(continued)
18
H. Kulkarni et al.