Participatory Groundwater Management

Evolving water self-reliance through surface and groundwater sharing and management

forwater — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 06:31:06 +0000

Evolving water self-reliance through surface and groundwater sharing and management forwater Tue, 01/03/2023 - 12:01

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Groundwater overexploitation is a significant problem in many parts of India, especially in groundwater dependent dry land regions such as Maharashtra. However, villages with unexplored groundwater resources often fall within the “dark zones” categorization and therefore are not allowed to access their water resources. In this project, two partners collaborated to help create access to groundwater resources and ensure sustainable management in one such village in Pune district.

ACWADAM, with its understanding of geohydrology, demystified the concept of managing groundwater through systematic field research. This was followed by defining a set of groundwater management protocols based on the characteristics of the aquifer. This exercise also demonstrated that different management methods need to be evolved, as aquifer boundaries differ from administrative boundaries.

GGP, is an organization that has more than three decades of experience. It pioneered the Pani Panchayat model through which GGP motivated the people of the village to collaborate to harness their water resources for common good. GGP used ACWADAM’s scientific understanding and helped the villagers access groundwater in a sustainable manner. The project illustrated the potential of participatory watershed management to address water security issues. Measures such as optimum usage of pumps, modified cropping pattern which could match water availability and raise productivity etc. were adopted.

Findings from this project have the potential to influence small scale appropriate approaches to groundwater/aquifer management techniques in rural areas.

Outputs

ACWADAM conducted extensive geo-hydrological studies,over a period of 6 months, on existing water sources, rainfall patterns, water quality and other features. It was established that though in a dark zone, the groundwater in the project villages was untapped.
The Pani Panchayat model was adopted – sustainable methods of water utilization with priority to drinking water were evolved, such as:
- Irrigation schemes are undertaken for farmers,
- Water is allocated on the basis of the family rather than size of land,
- Cropping is restricted to seasonal crops, with low water requirement,
- Over 550 acres of land was irrigated
Over 10 Water User Groups (WUGs) with around 275 members were formed.
Over 10 Community-Lift irrigation schemes were completed.
The government granted over 10 electricity connections to community groups (which was unavailable because this was a dark zone) to create water sources in the village
Over 10 Self-Help Groups were formed.
Around 6 old wells were deepened and over 12 wells were dug.
It was demonstrated to the government and groundwater agencies that aquifer boundaries do not match administrative boundaries and that groundwater status needs to be based on more granular data so that villages which haven’t developed their groundwater potential do not get penalized because they are located in a dark zone.

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

Maharashtra

Implementing Partner

ACWADAM

Outreach

250

Duration

Thu, 01/01/2009 - 12:00 - Fri, 01/01/2010 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/evolving-water-self-reliance-through-surface-and-groundwater-sharing-and-management

Internship programme for rural Youth and students on Groundwater Management in Kutch district

forwater — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 06:26:29 +0000

Internship programme for rural Youth and students on Groundwater Management in Kutch district forwater Tue, 01/03/2023 - 11:56

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Sustainable exploration, development and management of groundwater requires a specialized human resource base. However, there is a dearth of specialisation in this field. In this project, ACT created an internship to train people from local communities to understand geohydrology better and plan water management based on that. This programme helped them formulate strategies for management of groundwater on the basis of mapping and identification of aquifers with practical training in Mundra Taluka.

Outputs

A total of 15 para engineer graduates (Parabs) from three batches were trained.
Development of a curriculum for a 45-day programme for parabs that includes 20 days course work that alternates with 25 days field work.

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

Gujarat

Implementing Partner

ACT

Outreach

Duration

Tue, 01/01/2008 - 12:00 - Sat, 01/01/2011 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/internship-programme-rural-youth-and-students-groundwater-management-kutch-district

Reviving traditional water harvesting structures and river revival in Rajasthan (Phase II)

forwater — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 09:56:49 +0000

Reviving traditional water harvesting structures and river revival in Rajasthan (Phase II) forwater Mon, 12/26/2022 - 15:26

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The traditional water harvesting systems of western Rajasthan are a science, elaborated by the people, to translate their experience with water into practice. For harvesting each type of water, they have engineered a structure.

In Phase I of this project, Sambhaav revived traditional water structures in Rajasthan, and phase II is a continuation of this project. The approach that Sambhaav adopts is completely participatory and community-centered, with a strong focus on sustainable interventions.

Outputs

Collecting and compiling baseline information to measure impact after intervention activities.
Constructing/repairing traditional water structures in Barmer and Jaisalmer districts.
Reviving the Sakhatwali river in Alwar district, involving the user community.

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

Rajasthan

Outreach

4500

Duration

Tue, 01/01/2008 - 12:00 - Sun, 01/01/2012 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/reviving-traditional-water-harvesting-structures-and-river-revival-rajasthan-phase-ii

Consolidating data to accelerate water security plan development

forwater — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 09:47:09 +0000

Consolidating data to accelerate water security plan development forwater Mon, 12/26/2022 - 15:17

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Effective water governance and disaster response needs data of stock of water resources, rate of flow of water, soil moisture levels, daily precipitation levels.

Deriving cause-effect links between the scale of use of water in a particular region and its possible effect on the status of water resources in the vicinity is an extremely difficult exercise because water stocks and flows are affected by so many causal links which need to be studied and quantified in an integrated manner. An integral part of any water resource study is developing a water balance model to estimate water availability and water demand.

The project was envisioned to study availability and accessibility of inter-operable data and create prototypes that allowed for overlaying of local data over satellite data. To build a free and open source data portal for water resources information in India.

Output

A web application prototype that will collate and display secondary data
A paper that outlines sources of data, type of data, level to which available (GP, village, etc.) and nature of the source (Paid/ unpaid/ format available etc.)
A model WSP format – along with indications for what data already exists in secondary sources.

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

Pan - India

Duration

Sun, 01/01/2017 - 12:00 - Mon, 01/01/2018 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/consolidating-data-accelerate-water-security-plan-development

Building a scaling ecosystem for natural resource governance through use of technology

forwater — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 07:31:23 +0000

Building a scaling ecosystem for natural resource governance through use of technology forwater Fri, 12/16/2022 - 13:01

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About the Programme

Through Prakriti Karyashala model, the program aimed to enable better governance and restoration of common-pool resources including water resources in 7500 villages benefitting at least 15,00,000 people. It proposed to build the capacity of 2000 program actors, including government functionaries, to create impact at scale. After realizing that it was not feasible to work at scale without pivoting their existing approach, FES ventured into the journey of re-imagining capacity building in their programs and are deploying solutions to enable desired shifts.

With Arghyam’s support to FES, the programme:

Re-imagined the capacity building approach in three different regions (Odisha 3500 villages, Rajasthan 2000 villages, Andhra Pradesh 2000 villages)
Embedded the new approach in the existing funded programmes (OLM-5 districts, ABF-2 districts, HUF-2 districts)
Organised training sessions, provide access to atomised content, deploy attestation application
Resolved issues during implementation through virtual guided mentoring model
Encouraged peer-to-peer learning in virtual mentoring sessions
Monitored progress through dashboards

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

Karnataka

Implementing Partner

FES

Outreach

1500000

Duration

Wed, 01/01/2020 - 12:00 - Sat, 01/01/2022 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/building-scaling-ecosystem-natural-resource-governance-through-use-technology

Leveraging digital to build capacities across multiple programs in West Bengal

forwater — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 10:09:29 +0000

Leveraging digital to build capacities across multiple programs in West Bengal forwater Thu, 12/15/2022 - 15:39

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Arghyam partnered with PRASARI for their scaled interventions for building capacities of frontline workers across three different projects in West Bengal.

The engagement covered three programs - springshed management, watershed management and well rejuvenation. The issue in most of the target areas was reducing groundwater levels, reducing spring discharge, poor maintenance of dug-wells and other traditional water structures leading to poor access to water and water scarcity.

Jharnadhara Springshed Management program

Jharnadhara was a pioneering Springshed program designed at scale which covered 616 springs across 4 districts. It was a collaboration of BRLF and Arghyam to support the soft components of the program while the implementation money is leveraged from MG-NREGA, Department of Rural Development, Government of West Bengal.

The new engagement targeted all 30 springs of Gorubathan block of Darjeeling district with the reimagined capacity building model.

Usharmukti Watershed Management program

Usharmukti was the first mega watershed project supported by BRLF and implemented by CSO partners. The project covered 55 blocks across 6 districts. It was a collaboration of BRLF and a few other funders like Ford Foundation, Wabag Foundation, to support the soft components of the program while the implementation money was leveraged from MG-NREGA, Department of Rural Development, Government of West Bengal.

30 micro watersheds of Rajnagar block (intensive block) and watersheds of non-intensive block, of Birbhum district piloted the digital capacity building model.

Well Rejuvenation program

This program was about piloting a well rejuvenation protocol on 80-100 water structures across two districts of West Bengal. Funded by Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI), this project sought to leverage MGNREGA funds.

This new engagement covered five intensive gram panchayats of the project in Matiali & Nagrakata blocks in the Jalpaiguri district.

The reimagined capacity building efforts touched approximately 18000 households. As the scale of operations increased, BRLF collaborated with Arghyam to deploy the capacity building solutions in order to improve the efficacy of their efforts across different phases of the project lifecycle.

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

West Bengal

Implementing Partner

Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation

Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives

Duration

Mon, 01/01/2018 - 12:00 - Fri, 01/01/2021 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/leveraging-digital-build-capacities-across-multiple-programs-west-bengal

A systemic approach to manage India's largest groundwater program

fasmin — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 06:05:09 +0000

A systemic approach to manage India's largest groundwater program fasmin Mon, 09/19/2022 - 11:35

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Arghyam has been a long-term knowledge partner of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation to strengthen the Atal Bhujal Yojana - scheme launched by the prime minister Narendra Modi in April 2020 to improve ground water management that includes community sensitization and followed by systematic supply side and demand side interventions.

With a large footprint covering 8562 Gram Panchayats over seven states, the scheme aims to empower communities and institutions to engage in efforts to plan and manage groundwater resources to arrest the rate of decline of groundwater levels.

While the approach itself has been embraced by states and demonstrates a significant shift in the way the Center and States can engage in better groundwater management that results in better life and livelihood outcomes for participating communities, our engagement of the work done on the ground has raised the possibility of strengthening the operating model, governance, and verification of outcomes, while ensuring that the process also strengthens the ability of community level actors to contribute, engage and sustain efforts.

One key actor in the scheme is the Community Resource Person, at every Gram Panchayat, assisting the Direct Implementation Partner (DIP) in making groundwater management a community-owned exercise. The CRP belongs to the community and needs to be empowered with the science and social aspects of groundwater management, so that they are able to support the community with decisions about water management.

We partnered with Arid Communities and Technologies (ACT), our long term PGWM partner & a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) selected as District Implementation partner (DIP), and Socion - our technology and strategy partner to digitally re-imagine a program design for Atal Bhujal Yojana, in Nakhatrana Block in Gujarat. The objective of the partnership was to demonstrate a scalable model for creating participatory water security plans across 70 plus Gram Panchayats of Nakhatrana.

Through this partnership we are exploring models that would engage local actors, the Bhujal Jankars (or the community resource persons) and community institutions are adequately capacitated and have sustained access to content, tools and data to actively partake in the decisions that affect local outcomes. . The model aspires to provide them with clarity on their roles, build their capabilities on a continuous basis, help them prepare water security plans with community participation, and provide financial incentives for the work they perform. The partnership will also explore the use of digital technology to empower the CRPs, the community institutions, and the program stakeholders.

As a result of this exercise, the partners

Design a step-by-step process that provided clarity to all the stakeholders participating
Leverage digital technology to generate transparency, visibility and used data to strengthen quality of outcomes
Empower and motivate the CRPs and the program owners to enable more engagement, accountability and ownership at all levels

Since this scheme is a Program-for-Results (PforR) model of the World Bank, it incentivises or disburses funds every time a milestone is achieved by a gram panchayat in the scheme’s seven states. According to the Disbursement Linked Indicator 1 and 2, the pilot will mapp the task/session/function to generate the data on a runtime basis by leveraging the capabilities of the Participatory Digital Attestation (PDA) Platform (offered by SOCION , a partner organization who has developed PDA Platform) which will enable program team & DIP to generate data, enable data driven governance and strengthen program implementation

Watch how a female Bhujaljankar is mobilising the women of Kutch to manage their water resources sustainably.

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

Gujarat

Implementing Partner

ACT

DSC

Outreach

167

Duration

Wed, 01/01/2020 - 12:00 - Sat, 01/01/2022 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/systemic-approach-manage-indias-largest-groundwater-program

Using digital to leverage MGNREGA at scale across Karnataka

fasmin — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 05:56:00 +0000

Using digital to leverage MGNREGA at scale across Karnataka fasmin Mon, 09/19/2022 - 11:26

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The Government of Karnataka has been implementing the ambitious Antarajala Chetana program across the state to improve groundwater levels in rural areas by leveraging Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). During the last year, the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RDPR) department, Government of Karnataka has started to engage a cadre of women as Grama Kayaka Mitras (GKM) with a monthly remuneration.The state is looking to mobilize and engage with the communities through these GKMs to generate more demand for work under MGNREGS and improve the people’s confidence in the system.

Our partner in Karnataka, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) has been working with the MGNREGS functionaries for over a year to help build the technical capabilities of NREGA functionaries and demonstrate a process for scientific planning through active community participation to improve the quality and durability of the assets to be created. Arghyam has been supporting FES to engage with the State Government, to design and adopt a model for NRM planning at scale.

Overall, FES has enabled the formation of 2100+ village institutions dedicated to managing the ecology and commons in their village, training 2620+ MGNREGS staff including Panchayat Development Officers, Technical Coordinators, Technical Assistants (Civil/ Agriculture/ Horticulture/ Forestry), Barefoot Technicians, Grama Kayaka Mitras and Data Entry Operators. FES has also demonstrated the scientific planning process across 53 taluks in the 8 districts of the state.

The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department has shown interest in adopting learnings from FES and saturating GIS-based planning across all GPs in Karnataka. To carry this forward, the Department has now renamed Antarajala Chetana as Jala Sanjeevini to converge all existing efforts in the state to prepare GIS-based NRM plans. The next year will focus on providing support to the state in designing the program for scale implementation in all the 1600 GPs across 8 districts in the state . Arghyam, FES and Socion will work together with MGNREGS of the rural development department to develop the design, theory of change and data systems necessary to create community led NRM plans and govern the program at scale.

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

Karnataka

Implementing Partner

Vrutti

FES

Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department - Karnataka

Socion

Duration

Fri, 01/01/2021 - 12:00 - Sun, 01/01/2023 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/using-digital-leverage-mgnrega-scale-across-karnataka