Your search found 4 records
1 Maheshwari, B.; Varua, M.; Ward, J.; Packham, R.; Chinnasamy, Pennan; Dashora, Y.; Dave, S.; Soni, P.; Dillon, P.; Purohit, R.; Hakimuddin; Shah, Tushaar; Oza, S.; Singh, P.; Prathapar, Sanmugam; Patel, A.; Jadeja, Y.; Thaker, B.; Kookana, R.; Grewal, H.; Yadav, K.; Mittal, H.; Chew, M.; Rao, P. 2014. The role of transdisciplinary approach and community participation in village scale groundwater management: insights from Gujarat and Rajasthan, India. Water, 6(11):3386-3408. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w6113386]
Community involvement ; Groundwater management ; Groundwater recharge ; Water table ; Water use ; Sustainability ; Watersheds ; Rain ; Villages ; Farmers ; Households ; Living standards ; Socioeconomic environment ; Gender / India / Gujarat / Rajasthan / Meghraj watershed / Dharta watershed
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046716)
(1.38 MB) (1.39 MB)
Sustainable use of groundwater is becoming critical in India and requires effective participation from local communities along with technical, social, economic, policy and political inputs. Access to groundwater for farming communities is also an emotional and complex issue as their livelihood and survival depends on it. In this article, we report on transdisciplinary approaches to understanding the issues, challenges and options for improving sustainability of groundwater use in States of Gujarat and Rajasthan, India. In this project, called Managed Aquifer Recharge through Village level Intervention (MARVI), the research is focused on developing a suitable participatory approach and methodology with associated tools that will assist in improving supply and demand management of groundwater. The study was conducted in the Meghraj watershed in Aravalli district, Gujarat, and the Dharta watershed in Udaipur district, Rajasthan, India. The study involved the collection of hydrologic, agronomic and socio-economic data and engagement of local village and school communities through their role in groundwater monitoring, field trials, photovoice activities and education campaigns. The study revealed that availability of relevant and reliable data related to the various aspects of groundwater and developing trust and support between local communities, NGOs and government agencies are the key to moving towards a dialogue to decide on what to do to achieve sustainable use of groundwater. The analysis of long-term water table data indicated considerable fluctuation in groundwater levels from year to year or a net lowering of the water table, but the levels tend to recover during wet years. This provides hope that by improving management of recharge structures and groundwater pumping, we can assist in stabilizing the local water table. Our interventions through Bhujal Jankaars (BJs), (a Hindi word meaning “groundwater informed” volunteers), schools, photovoice workshops and newsletters have resulted in dialogue within the communities about the seriousness of the groundwater issue and ways to explore options for situation improvement. The BJs are now trained to understand how local recharge and discharge patterns are influenced by local rainfall patterns and pumping patterns and they are now becoming local champions of groundwater and an important link between farmers and project team. This study has further strengthened the belief that traditional research approaches to improve the groundwater situation are unlikely to be suitable for complex groundwater issues in the study areas. The experience from the study indicates that a transdisciplinary approach is likely to be more effective in enabling farmers, other village community members and NGOs to work together with researchers and government agencies to understand the groundwater situation and design interventions that are holistic and have wider ownership. Also, such an approach is expected to deliver longer-term sustainability of groundwater at a regional level.
2 Jadeja, Y.; Maheshwari, B.; Packham, R.; Hakimuddin; Purohit, R.; Thaker, B.; Goradiya, V.; Oza, S.; Dave, S.; Soni, P.; Dashora, Y.; Dashora, R.; Shah, Tushaar; Gorsiya, J.; Katara, P.; Ward, J.; Kookana, R.; Dillon, P.; Prathapar, Sanmugam; Chinnasamy, Pennan; Varua, M. 2015. Participatory groundwater management at village level in India – empowering communities with science for effective decision making. Paper Presented at the Australian Groundwater Conference 2015, Canberra, Australia, 3-5 November 2015. 20p.
Participatory approaches ; Groundwater management ; Water resources ; Watersheds ; Rural communities ; Villages ; Empowerment ; Decision making ; Drinking water ; Capacity building ; Hydrogeology ; Training ; Land resources ; Stakeholders ; Mapping / India / Gujarat / Rajasthan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047332)
(0.68 MB)
There are many reasons behind the worsening groundwater situation that have led to a scarcity of quality water supply for sustaining lives and livelihoods in India, as well as in other parts of the world. The lack of a proper scientific understanding of this situation by the various stakeholders has been identified as one of the important gaps in the sustainable management of groundwater. This paper shares experiences from Gujarat and Rajasthan in western India where scientists, NGOs, government agencies and village leaders have worked together to explore strategies for sustainable groundwater management. The study involved a total of eleven villages in Gujarat and Rajasthan, India. The study’s main aim was to educate these communities through an intensive capacity building of (mainly) rural youth, called Bhujal Jaankars (BJs), a Hindi word meaning ‘groundwater informed’. The BJs were trained in their local settings through relevant theory and practical exercises, so that they could perform a geo-hydrological evaluation of their area, monitor groundwater and share their findings and experiences with their village community. The BJs went through a training program of a series of sessions totalling 45-days that covered mapping, land and water resource analysis, geo-hydrology, and water balance analysis, and finally groundwater management strategies. This approach has highlighted important learning that can be replicated in other parts of the two states and beyond. There are now 35 trained BJs who regularly monitor groundwater and rainfall in the two study watersheds, and provide data to both scientific and their own rural communities. This study has demonstrated that BJ capacity building has helped to provide a scientific basis for village level groundwater dialogue. This is now leading the communities and other stakeholders to improve their decision making regarding groundwater use, crop selection, agronomy, recharge strategies and other aspects of sustainable groundwater management. Although the BJ program has been successful and BJs can act as a valuable interface between local communities and other stakeholders, there still exists some challenges to the BJ programme, such as the need for mechanisms and funding sources that will sustain the BJs over the longer term; wider acceptance of BJs among scientific communities and policy makers; and the acceptance of the role and involvements of BJs in natural resources management programs of the State and Central governments in India.
3 Jadeja, J.; Maheshwari, B.; Packham, R.; Bohra, H.; Purohit, R.; Thaker, B.; Dillon, P.; Oza, S.; Dave, S.; Soni, P.; Dashora, Y.; Dashora, R.; Shah, Tushaar [IWMI]; Gorsiya, J.; Katara, P.; Ward, J.; Kookana, R.; Singh, P. K.; Chinnasamy, Pennan; Goradiya, V.; Prathapar, Sanmugam; Varua, M.; Chew, M. 2018. Managing aquifer recharge and sustaining groundwater use: developing a capacity building program for creating local groundwater champions. Sustainable Water Resources Management, 4(2):317-329. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-018-0228-6]
Groundwater management ; Groundwater extraction ; Groundwater recharge ; Groundwater development ; Water use ; Water quality ; Water availability ; Water resources ; Water management ; Water levels ; Aquifers ; Monitoring ; Capacity building ; Sustainability ; Training ; Villages ; Rural communities ; Stakeholders ; Farmers ; Participatory approaches ; Cooperatives / India
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048906)
Participatory groundwater management is increasingly being recognised for its ability to address the challenges of equity, efficiency and sustainability. It can particularly help with effective engagement at the grassroots level for monitoring, recharging and managing the groundwater as a common pool resource. The main aim of this article is to discuss the training and management process used and the lessons learnt from a participatory groundwater management project, titled Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustainable Groundwater Use through Village-level Intervention (MARVI). In this project, researchers, rural development facilitators and local villagers worked together to initiate participatory groundwater monitoring in 11 villages from the Dharta and Meghraj watersheds in Rajasthan and Gujarat, India. The study involved educating villagers through an intensive program of capacity building, wherein the villagers who participated in the program were called Bhujal Jaankars (BJs), a Hindi word meaning ‘groundwater informed’. The BJs were trained in their local settings through relevant theory and practical exercises, so that they could perform a geo-hydrological evaluation of their area, monitor groundwater and share their findings and experiences with their village community. The study has highlighted that with a well-designed program of capacity building and on-going support through training and nurturing, BJs can play an important role in monitoring watertable depth and other data for estimating groundwater recharge, leading to a sharing of the groundwater information with the local village community to influence the sustainable use of groundwater. Overall they can act as local champions for groundwater futures. Further, this study has demonstrated that BJ capacity building can help to provide a scientific basis for village level groundwater dialogue and assist village communities and other stakeholders to improve their decision making regarding groundwater use, crop selection, agronomy, recharge strategies and other aspects of sustainable groundwater management. Although the BJ program has been successful and BJs can act as a valuable interface between local communities and other stakeholders managed aquifer recharge activities, there still exists some challenges to the BJ programme, such as the need for mechanisms and funding sources that will sustain the BJs over the longer term; wider acceptance of BJs among scientific communities and policy makers; and the acceptance of the role and involvements of BJs in natural resources management programs of the State and Central governments in India.
4 Issac, A. M.; Mullassery, H. S.; Lakshmi, T. V.; Hagare, D.; Maheshwari, B.; Dollin, J.; Packham, R.; Spencer, R. 2023. Transdisciplinary approach for planning the expansion of irrigation infrastructure at a regional scale. World Water Policy, 17p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/wwp2.12120]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052049)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/wwp2.12120
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052049.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052049.pdf
(1.69 MB) (1.69 MB)
The focus on irrigation infrastructure development in countries like India, including a significant allocation of the government's budget, highlights the importance of achieving a high benefit–cost ratio for these projects. However, past reviews have revealed instances where irrigation projects yielded low benefits. To address this issue and ensure a more effective evaluation of future projects, it is crucial to develop multi-criteria and transdisciplinary approaches. In the context of Telangana, India, a study was conducted to determine cultivable land using a multi-criteria and transdisciplinary approach. This approach aimed to provide assistance to managers involved in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of irrigation schemes. The study was undertaken as part of the Indian Young Water Professionals (IYWP) training program in 2022. The project followed a journey outlined within this paper as part of the training program. It utilized the Situation Understanding and Improvement Project (SUIP) as an inquiry-based learning design program. This initiative facilitated the understanding and implementation of transdisciplinary learning approaches learned during the training program. The SUIP project demonstrated the benefits of incorporating a multi-criteria framework, known as the [I]NSPECT model, into the decision-making process. The [I]NSPECT model considers various perspectives, including individual, natural, social, political, economic, cultural, and technical factors. By incorporating these perspectives, the decision-making process becomes more comprehensive and holistic. Overall, this study highlights the importance of adopting multi-criteria and transdisciplinary approaches for evaluating irrigation projects. By incorporating diverse perspectives and considering various factors, it becomes possible to enhance the effectiveness of decision-making processes in the realm of irrigation infrastructure development. The study concluded that the absence of transdisciplinary approaches, the inefficient techno-managerial performance of governmental workplaces, and the non-use of technological advancements to the fullest are primary reasons for gaps in the irrigation potential created and utilized in the State.
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