WATER KNOWLEDGE NOTE Drought-Proofing through Groundwater Recharge Lessons from Chief Ministers’ Initiatives in Four Indian States Shilp Verma and Manisha Shah1 Indian agricultural communities are facing a crisis driven by, among other things, skewed terms of trade and farmers’ inability to deal with increasingly adverse climatic conditions. Because agriculture continues to be the primary source of livelihood for most of India’s population, governments at all levels are under pressure to find ways to help farmers. In western and peninsular India, where droughts are common, several state governments have vowed to make farming “drought- proof ” through ambitious flagship programs. This case study reviews the experience of four such programs in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Rajasthan. Although the programs differ in approach, implementation style, and duration, all of them aim to shield farmers, particularly smallholders, from the misery imposed by droughts. Among these states, efforts in Gujarat appear to be the most mature; however, concerns regarding sustaining momentum, capacity building of communities, demand management, and establishing functional local governance remain. We use evidence gathered through field studies to draw lessons for designing effective drought- mitigation strategies through improved management of groundwater resources. © Hamish John Appleby / International Water Management Institute. The information in this case study was prepared as part of the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) technical assistance project, “Managing Groundwater for Drought Resilience in South Asia.” SAWI is a multidonor trust fund supported by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Norway and administered by the World Bank. Centrality of Groundwater and Managed (2017) define the three key roles that groundwater can play Aquifer Recharge to safeguard against droughts: stabilization—to cope with mid-season dry spells; buffering—to cope with monsoon In the three decades between 1970 and 2000, India added failure; and carry-over storage—to cope with consecutive more irrigated areas through expansion of groundwater years of drought. irrigation than it had through massive investments in gravity-flow surface irrigation systems in the 200 years before When annual groundwater abstraction (for irrigation or that (Debroy and Shah 2003; Shah 2009). The bulk of this otherwise) consistently approaches or exceeds recharge, addition came because of private investments in tubewells, wells fail to recover to predevelopment levels, even after pumps, and water distribution systems, supported by a good monsoon. Over years, this overextraction results agricultural power subsidies in western and peninsular India. in depletion and lowering of groundwater levels— Today, India has more than 20 million groundwater-based which makes groundwater irrigation more costly and minor irrigation systems: 8.8 million dugwells, 5.9 million less accessible, especially for poor farmers. This outcome shallow tubewells, 3.2  million medium tubewells, and seriously undermines groundwater’s drought-resilience 2.6  million deep tubewells.2 These structures are used role, and many parts of India are already suffering the to pump out between 200  billion and 230  billion cubic consequences.3 Broadly, there are two approaches to meters of groundwater annually, making India the world’s reversing this trend: (a) enhance groundwater recharge to largest user of groundwater (World Bank 2012). Against improve resource availability or (b) reduce groundwater their ultimate irrigation potential of 78.9 million hectares, abstraction by managing demand. The developing world these groundwater structures irrigate 63.3  million hectares provides several examples of the former and relatively fewer annually (GoI 2017; Rajan and Verma 2017). In comparison, instances of the latter. India’s medium and major surface irrigation systems irrigate 20  million to 25  million hectares against their ultimate The “purposeful recharge (and storage) of water to irrigation potential of about 40 million hectares. aquifers for subsequent recovery or environmental benefit” is termed managed aquifer recharge (MAR) Active and vibrant irrigation service markets in many parts (Dillon et  al. 2009). Sakthivadivel (2007; 2008) has of the country ensure that these 20 million groundwater argued that efforts for artificial groundwater recharge are structures not only service the well owners but also as old as irrigated agriculture in arid and semiarid regions. provide reliable and affordable irrigation service to non- In India, there is evidence from as early as 600 AD that well owners in their vicinity. One estimate, based on a constructing ponds or tanks4 to capture rainfall runoff large-scale national survey across the country (Shah 2009), and augment groundwater recharge was considered the suggests that in addition to irrigating the landholding of solemn duty of kings and rulers. Many of these structures owners, each groundwater structure delivers irrigation to still exist, and although they no longer command the three to four water buyers. This number would be higher centrality in irrigated agriculture as they once did, there for larger and deeper groundwater structures, which are have been efforts at reviving their groundwater recharge often jointly owned. Thus, although the dynamics of augmentation role. groundwater irrigation service markets vary across regions, they contribute in making groundwater irrigation available This case study captures large-scale efforts by four to 100 million to 120 million farm households, servicing state governments—in the Indian states of Gujarat, more than 60  percent of the irrigated area in India Maharashtra, Telangana, and Rajasthan—to promote (Shah 2007). groundwater recharge as the central strategy for helping rural communities deal with droughts (map 1). Although Groundwater irrigation is particularly appealing for efforts in Gujarat have been accumulating over the past smallholders because groundwater resources are widely three decades, the programs in Maharashtra, Telangana, distributed and the investment required to access it is relatively and Rajasthan are in their early years of implementation. low. Groundwater not only helps smallholder farmers Quantitative impact assessment is, therefore, difficult, intensively cultivate and irrigate their small landholdings but this case study attempts to understand the program but also provides insurance against short- and long-term design, implementation style, field processes, and response droughts—both of which affect surface water availability of communities to draw policy insights. The four states much more than groundwater availability. Shah and Verma were purposefully chosen because they all have significant WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 2 MAP 1. Location of Study States in India threat of another crop failure left them with no choice” CHANDIGARH (Verma 2008). IBRD 44500 | JUNE 2019 Chandigarh PUNJAB Dehradun UTTARAKHAND This bold experiment bore fruit and the enterprising farmers PAKISTAN HARYANA NEPAL were able to water their crops well into the winter season as NEW DELHI scores of villages remained parched. Within a short time, NCT OF DELHI thousands of farmers from the seven districts of Saurashtra Jaipur Lucknow were converting their wells into recharge structures. Over RAJASTHAN UTTAR PRADESH time, farmers, supported by local leaders and institutions, evolved different ways to deal with silt (by constructing a simple filter and settlement structure near the well) and Gandhinagar Bhopal expanded their portfolio of methods to enhance groundwater GUJARAT MADHYA PRADESH recharge. In addition to recharging dugwells, farmers desilted Raipur village water bodies and built check dams and sand dams on a large scale. Many community organizations contributed CHHATTISGARH DAMAN AND DIU MAHARASHTRA to the effort. The Swadhyaya Parivar—a popular quasi- BADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI religious movement—helped by propagating the message Mumbai of groundwater recharge and offering volunteer labor for TELANGANA Hyderabad dugwell recharge. Sheth (2000) estimated that by the end STATE CAPITALS of 1994, more than 230,000 dugwells were recharged in rabia A NATIONAL n CAPITAL Amaravati Saurashtra with the help of Swadhyaya volunteers. Several a S eBOUNDARIES STATE Panaji KARNATAKA ANDHRA GOA nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and foundations INTERNATIONAL PRADESH contributed by providing financial and technical assistance BOUNDARIES for the construction of check dams and bori-bandhs (sand Bangalore Chennai dams). Saurashtra Jaldhara Trust, an NGO based in Rajkot, agrarian economies with large drought-prone areas and all made backhoes available free of cost to any village that four programs are being implemented throughout the state, wished to desilt recharge structures. Wealthy merchants often with ambitious objectives and desired outcomes. and industrialists who had moved away from Saurashtra Another feature of each of these interventions is the donated. The government of Gujarat pitched in through extraordinary interest and political support they enjoy from the Sardar Patel Sahbhagi Jal Sanchay Yojana (Sardar Patel their respective chief ministers. Participatory Water Conservation Program; SPPWCP) by offering 60 percent subsidies for check dam construction. Gohil (2002) estimated that more than 130,000 check Groundwater Management dams were constructed under this scheme across Saurashtra Efforts in Gujarat with overwhelming public participation. Saurashtra Recharge Movement Scientists have debated the impact of such large-scale Groundwater recharge started as a mass movement in decentralized water harvesting for groundwater recharge in Saurashtra, Gujarat, in the late 1980s in response to three Saurashtra and elsewhere. Although some have pointed to successive years of drought (1986–88) (Shah 2000; Verma the local, village-level positive impacts, others have argued 2008). In their desperation to save crops, some farmers that such efforts are futile and “unscientific” (Kumar et al. started diverting rainwater and water from nearby canals 2008). In Saurashtra, studies have noted improvement and streams into their wells. This practice was contrary in well productivity (Joshi 2002; Raval 2002), increased to the prevailing wisdom at the time, which discouraged cropping intensity (Bhammar 2002), higher crop output farmers from introducing silt-laden waters into their wells (Joshi 2002; Bhammar 2002), and easier availability of for fear of clogging the cracks and fissures and rendering wage labor (Raval 2002). On the other hand, Kumar the well defunct. Shamjibhai Antala, a local journalist and et  al. (2008) argued that unplanned and unchecked one of the pioneers of the movement, recounts, “Farmers construction of water-harvesting structures has reduced were well aware, and even apprehensive about the ‘silt flows to large dams and reservoirs downstream, thereby issue’ but the successive droughts and the impending trading off public water supply services downstream for WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 3 farmers upstream. Sakthivadivel (2008) emphasized the water released in the canal was limited. However, the study importance of capturing local runoff upstream to address found significant impacts in stretches 1 and 2. Based on problems of frequent drought in upper watersheds because surveys in 26 villages along the spreading canal, Rai et al. blue water investments are mostly located downstream in a (2015) found a significant difference in the depths to which watershed or a basin, benefitting only that area with large- pumps were set,5 with the shallowest pump depths in scale irrigation. Kumar et al. (2008) have also argued that villages along the first third of the canal in stretch 1 (map 2 cumulatively, the decentralized structures may not perform and figure  1). They also estimated an average 11.6 meter to their potential and therefore lead to higher evaporation rise (from 95.7 to 84.1 meters below ground level) in water losses, whereas Evenari, Shanan, and Tadmor (1982) tables in treatment villages, leading to a near doubling of and Shah (2002) have argued that smaller, decentralized irrigated area (figure  2) and an incremental 31  percent storages will reduce evaporation losses vis-à-vis large increase in gross value of crop output (figure 3). The survey reservoirs. Gohil (2002), Chemin (2002), and Jain (2012) differentiated between “treatment” and “comparison” have shown significant improvement in groundwater villages, classifying villages within 2.0 kilometers of the levels and vegetation cover in Saurashtra, crediting these spreading canal as treatment and more distant villages to investments in decentralized water harvesting and as comparison. The gross value of output in agriculture groundwater recharge. Jain (2012) estimated the additional increased by 125  percent in treatment villages to ₹124 recharge from check dams and other water harvesting crores,6 whereas it grew by about 40 percent in comparison structures to be 480  million cubic meters per annum, villages after the program (figure 3). contributing significantly to post-monsoon stabilization of groundwater levels in the region. Shah et  al. (2009) MAP 2. Sujalam Sufalam Spreading Canal and Gulati, Shah, and Shreedhar (2009) attributed a large part of the credit for unprecedented agricultural growth in Gujarat between 2000–01 and 2006–07 to the Saurashtra recharge movement. Sujalam Sufalam Yojana to Recharge Depleted Aquifers in North Gujarat The Sujalam Sufalam Yojana was launched in 2004 with the objective of using the surplus water available in the Narmada and Mahi rivers to fill reservoirs and recharge aquifers in 10 water-scarce districts of north Gujarat. The scheme was designed with three key components: (a) pumping water from the Narmada Canal through pipelines to fill nine surface reservoirs in north Gujarat, (b) a 337-kilometer- Source: Rai et al. 2015. long unlined “spreading canal” linking the Kadana Dam on the Mahi River to the Banas River, and (c) construction of 200,000 farm ponds along the spreading canal to enhance FIGURE 1. Depth of Submersible Pumps in groundwater recharge (map 2). Villages along the Sujalam Sufalam Spreading Canal Studies on the early impact of Sujalam Sufalam have 250 Tubewell depth (meters below ground level) reported: (a) a rise in groundwater levels (by 2 to 4 meters 200 203.9 173.1 near recharge structures), (b) revival of dry dugwells (0.5 to 159.1 150 125.9 2.0 kilometers from the spreading canal), (c) expansion of 108.5 irrigated area and an increase in cropping intensity, and 100 (d)  a reduction in energy use for pumping groundwater 50 37.5 (ACT 2012; CGWB 2009; Prathapar et al. 2015). 0 Stretch 1 Stretch 2 Stretch 3 The study found that the impact of the recharge canal had Before After not reached the last third of the canal (stretch 3) because Source: Rai et al. 2015. WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 4 FIGURE 2. Irrigated Area as a Proportion of TABLE 1. Farm Power and Groundwater Cultivated Area in Treatment and Comparison Irrigation in India and Gujarat Villages Before and After Sujalam Sufalam a. Stretch 1 b. Stretch 2 India Gujarat Parameter 2000 2013 2000 2013 95.7% 80.1% 93.2% 95.1% 76.4% 78.6% Number of 68.4% agricultural 46.9% connections (millions) 12.51 18.86 0.67 1.03 Before After Before After Annual Treatment Comparison agricultural power Source: Rai et al. 2015. consumption (million kWh) 106,298 150,980 14,507 14,437 FIGURE 3. Gross Value of Output from Annual farm Agriculture (in ₹ Crores) in Treatment and power subsidy Comparison Villages bill (₹ crores) 27,083 66,989 4,577 4,322 Annual gross 123.8 130.0 well irrigated 93.4 area (Mha) 33.775 42.438 2.920 4.51 Sources: GoI 2001; GoI 2014; PFC 2015. 55.1 Note: Mha = million hectares; kWh = kilowatt-hours. Treatment Comparison rewired the countryside and separated agricultural and Before After nonagricultural feeders at a cost of US$250  million. Source: Rai et al. 2015. Agriculture feeders now supplied eight hours of uninterrupted, high-quality, three-phase subsidized power Supporting Interventions according to a schedule while nonagricultural feeders were assured of around-the-clock power at commercial or An important supporting intervention is the intelligent near-commercial tariffs. These steps were implemented in rationing of farm power. The provision of highly subsidized conjunction with broader structural and organizational farm power over recent decades has routinely been blamed reforms in the electricity sector (Shah et al. 2012). Widely for overpumping of groundwater across India. In Gujarat, recognized as a huge success, the reforms substantially too, farmers had access to subsidized farm power and the improved the quality of rural life in Gujarat and provided the electricity utilities were struggling to ration power supply government with an effective lever to improve groundwater to agriculture. Until 2005–06, the utilities supplied three- governance (Shah et  al. 2008; Shah and Verma 2008; see phase power for eight hours and switched the supply to table 1). single-phase for the remaining 16 hours to prevent farmers from operating their pumps. However, enterprising farmers Gujarat is perhaps the only state in India where, at least in found ways around such rationing efforts by employing some areas, groundwater levels are improving (Jain 2012). locally manufactured “phase splitters” and operating pumps Of course, this improvement should not be attributed for 16 to 20 hours a day. Given the large numbers of to Jyotigram Yojana alone, but many have surmised that farmers and their political influence, there was little that the intelligent rationing of farm power supply has played a utilities could do. Utilities accumulated large losses and had critical role (Gulati, Shah, and Shreedhar 2009; Shah et al. frequent pump and transformer burnout, disrupting power 2009; Shah et al. 2012). Table 1 shows that between 2000 supply. Shah (2009) described this situation as “anarchy at and 2013, the national farm power subsidy bill more than the rural feeder” as the power supply worsened for all rural doubled from ₹27,083 crores to ₹66,989 crores. Over the users. As a result, farmers were unhappy, rural consumers same period, Gujarat farm power subsidies declined from suffered, and utilities continued to accrue debts. ₹4,577 crores to ₹4,322 crores despite more than 330,000 In 2005–06, the government of Gujarat implemented new farm connections and an increase in areas irrigated the Jyotigram Yojana and, in just 18 months, completely from wells from 2.9 to 4.5 million hectares. An increase in WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 5 efficiency of pump utilization reduced waste of both power FIGURE 4. Change in Cropping Pattern in and extracted water, visibly shrinking water markets and Gujarat increasing water prices. a. 1990–91 Horticulture 3% Another supporting intervention is the promotion of efficient irritation technologies. Micro-irrigation Fodder and other technologies were first introduced in India in the 1970s. crops 14% Several studies and field trials, both domestic and international, demonstrated the advantages of adopting Cereals and efficient irrigation technologies, but state governments pulses 45% struggled to convince farmers to shift away from traditional Oilseeds, cotton, methods of flood and furrow irrigation. Even inducements and tobacco 38% in the form of significant capital subsidies failed to rapidly expand the area under micro-irrigation, a technique largely viewed as suitable  for “gentlemen farmers” who cultivate high-value commercial crops (Shah and Keller 2002). b. 2010–11 Fodder and other crops 8% In 2005, the government of Gujarat incorporated the Gujarat Green Revolution Company Ltd. (GGRC) as a special purpose vehicle to expand micro-irrigation acreage in Gujarat. Through a simple yet efficient subsidy Horticulture disbursement process, GGRC has gained considerable 11% Cereals and ground in promoting micro-irrigation and became the pulses 37% nodal agency for all matters pertaining to government support for micro-irrigation adoption, claiming to bring Oilseeds, cotton, and tobacco 44% more than 200,000 hectares of new area under micro- irrigation each year. Experts have debated the impact that greater use of efficient irrigation technologies has on net groundwater withdrawal at the basin level (Batchelor et al. Source: Swain, Kalamkar, and Kapadia 2012. 2014; Ward and Pulido-Velazquez 2008). However, micro- irrigation technologies have enhanced water use efficiency managing groundwater in the state: (a) recharging with and improved farmers’ incomes—catalyzing a steady shift surface water, (b) recharging with rainwater, (c) incentivizing toward horticulture crops that are less water-intensive and accelerated recharge by communities, and (d) introducing have a higher value (figure 4). policies for groundwater demand management. It also outlined an implementation plan for the construction of A MAR Strategy for Gujarat 21,200 percolation tanks, 22,400 recharge wells, and 23,600 check dams, as well as modification of 42,000 existing Building on earlier work, in 2008, the state government wells through a budgetary allocation of US$700 million. created a task force to develop an integrated MAR strategy for Gujarat. The task force was mandated to Although the strategy the task force recommended has explore whether large-scale investments in MAR should not made its way directly into policy, efforts for artificial become the major thrust of the state’s water policy (Shah groundwater recharge continue to expand. For instance, just 2014). The team recognized that although community- weeks before the expected onset of a 2018 monsoon, the led groundwater recharge efforts were beneficial, their Gujarat chief minister announced a monthlong campaign planning and implementation was limited by scale (usually to create additional water storage at more than 8,000 sites at the village level), skills, and resources. It also recognized across the state with the objective of capturing rainwater that such efforts were more likely to succeed in hard-rock and catalyzing groundwater recharge. Through a campaign regions where investments in groundwater recharge led to implemented on a mission mode by several government immediate and proximate benefits. The task force report departments with the help of local communities, private (GoG 2009) recommended a four-pronged strategy for players, and civil society organizations, the state set out to WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 6 desilt 13,000 ponds, 200 large reservoirs, and 1,500 check visible in expanded irrigated areas and improved cropping dams and clean more than 3,400 kilometers of riverbeds to intensity, increased months in which irrigation water is capture 11,000 million cubic feet (about 31.2 million cubic available, and reduced reliance on tanker water supply to meters) of rainfall (Chhabra 2018). Named the Sujalam meet drinking water requirements. Of 12 villages that grew Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan, the government earmarked only monsoon crops before the intervention, eight were ₹345 crores (about US$50 million) for the campaign, and able to plant a second winter crop after the program began. it is expected to become an annual exercise. Of 10 villages that relied on tanker water supply before the program, nine became tanker-free. And of the 19 villages Drought-Proofing Programs in that provided data on irrigated areas, 12 reported an Maharashtra increase after the drought-proofing intervention (Anvesha et al. 2017). The Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra are among the most drought-prone regions of India. The Anvesha et al. (2017) listed the following best practices to 1972–73 drought, which affected more than 20  million improve JYS interventions for consistent results: people (57  percent of Maharashtra’s rural population at that time), led to large-scale crop failure and widespread • Villages become more involved and engaged in water farmer distress. The total loss to the economy was estimated planning, including such steps as an annual water in excess of ₹333 crores (about US$450  million7). Some budgeting exercise to allocate groundwater. media reports claimed that consecutive years of drought • Villages contribute a modest part of the financial leading up to 2014–15 have been even worse (Anvesha et al. resources required for recharge interventions. 2017). Maharashtra has also recorded an alarming number • Villages account for their location in the larger of farmer suicides in recent years, and there is a growing watershed or river basin before planning water awareness that farmers are under severe stress from the management. worsening water situation, especially declining groundwater • Villagers, technical experts, and engineers share levels causing hydrological drought (Kakodkar 2015). knowledge and make collective and transparent decisions. In response to the severity and impacts of drought in • Villagers receive training on water budgeting, efficient recent years, the government of Maharashtra in 2014 irrigation technologies, and water storage. launched a five-year mission to make the state drought- proof by 2019. The state government intends to achieve GDGS this goal through a program improving village water security (Jalyukt Shivar [JYS]) and a parallel program Desiltation of tanks results in the restoration of tank storage rejuvenating water tanks (Galmukt Dharan and Galyukt capacity and augmentation of groundwater recharge. Shivar [GDGS]). JYS harvests decentralized water to Under GDGS, silt extracted from the base of the tanks is maximize irrigated crop land. GDGS removes silt from spread on farm fields to replenish soil fertility and improve water tanks and spreads it on farmlands to improve productivity. A study on tank desilting in Maharashtra productivity. Both programs have components to increase from the research initiative of the International Water groundwater recharge. JYS aims to drought-proof 5,000 Management Institute (IWMI) and Tata Trust—the villages annually over five years, and GDGS has a target IWMI-Tata Water Policy Research Program (IWMI-Tata of desilting 31,459 reservoirs over four years (Solanki, Program)—focused on three things: (a) understanding the Santhosh, and Chhetri 2018). JYS is implemented in processes followed in desilting tanks, (b) understanding villages, whereas GDGS is largely implemented through farmers’ perceptions about the program, and (c) quantifying state government line departments. the impact on village water security and rural livelihoods (Solanki, Santhosh, and Chhetri 2018). The study covered JYS 30 villages in five districts: Aurangabad, Beed, Jalna, Latur, and Nashik. Field studies in Maharashtra examining interim results of the program suggest variable results across villages but The field study found significant benefits of tank desilting. find that when implemented well, JYS makes a significant Solanki, Santhosh, and Chhetri (2018) reported increased and positive impact on local water security. The impact is irrigated areas, improved drinking water availability, WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 7 reduction in cost of cultivation, higher crop productivity, in the catchment and the encroachment of tank beds. More and perceived improvements in groundwater levels. than 46,500 of such decentralized storage reservoirs exist in However, the study also raised doubts concerning Telangana, according to the fifth Minor Irrigation Census sustainability when the four-year program ends because of (GoI 2017). limited participation of villages in planning and carrying out the desilting work. In a few years, when the tanks and Earlier governments recognized lack of access to irrigation reservoirs need a new round of desilting to sustain the as a key challenge in Telangana, where almost half of the groundwater recharge and farm productivity benefits, it gross cropped area of the state is rain-fed. But it took a is unclear whether a follow-up program will be in place state reorganization to launch a comprehensive project or whether villagers would be willing to do the work on to revive tanks to improve irrigation access. In 2014, their own. Telangana launched Mission Kakatiya to revive and harvest the benefits of tank irrigation by increasing the command Reviving Kakatiya Tanks in Telangana area, water available for irrigation, and opportunities for agriculture. One of the major slogans of the movement for Peninsular India sits on hard-rock geological formations, a separate Telangana state was “mana ooru, mana cheruvu” primarily the Deccan Traps basalts and granitic basement (our village, our tank), which later became the catchphrase complex of only moderate productivity. However, for Mission Kakatiya. The five-year program intends to extensive areas are irrigated with groundwater. The uphold the vision of the Kakatiyas by reviving and restoring expansion of groundwater irrigation occurred over the minor irrigation tanks to use 7.5  billion cubic meters of past 40 to 50 years as tank irrigation has taken a back water allocated for minor irrigation in the Godavari and seat in the region’s minor irrigation landscape. Despite Krishna river basins to irrigate 20 lakhs8 acres. The tanks frequent well failure and rapid groundwater depletion, are filled by canals. pump irrigation has provided “on-demand” irrigation to farmers and helped them grow multiple irrigated crops The main objective of Mission Kakatiya is to revive minor and use scarce land intensively to generate income. Tank- irrigation by desilting tanks to increase their water storage irrigated areas accounted for more than 15  percent of capacity and repairing sluices, weirs, and irrigation canals. India’s total irrigated area in the 1950s (Thenkabail et al. The project has also impacted groundwater irrigation 2009). By 2011–12, the share of tank-irrigated areas through increased recharge of groundwater from tank dwindled to a mere 3  percent (MoSPI 2015). Tamil seepage. Field data show a positive change in tank- Nadu, where tank irrigation once dominated, has cut tank irrigated areas for all tank sizes, according to the IWMI- irrigation by one-third, from 940,000 hectares to 601,000 Tata Program, which led field studies in 2015, 2016, and hectares (Palanisami and Ranganathan 2004). Availability 2017 that consistently reported increases in irrigated areas of cheap pumping technology and subsidized or free farm and cropping intensity. Figure 5 shows the change in rice power catalyzed a shift in farmers’ irrigation preferences to paddy area before and after program implementation in pumping water from wells recharged from tanks instead study villages in the Nirmal and Warangal districts. Field of using flow irrigation even within the command areas of tanks and other surface reservoirs. FIGURE 5. Change in Area under Tank- and The Kakatiya was an important dynasty in Telangana’s Groundwater-Irrigated Paddy before and after history and ruled between the 12th and 14th centuries the Program in Study Villages from a capital in present-day Warangal. The Kakatiyas 9,000 7,658 built thousands of small reservoirs to store rainwater 8,000 7,350 7,000 6,255 paddy (acres) for the dry season (Kothavade 2017). Often built in a Area under 6,000 5,603 cascade, the Kakatiya tanks were managed and maintained 5,000 by communities of tank command farmers, tank-bed 4,000 3,165 3,000 cultivators, and local fishing communities through a system 2,000 1,300 1,181 of decentralized governance. Communities would work 1,000 10 0 together in the summer to remove silt from bodies of water, Kharif Rabi Kharif Rabi and farmers applied the silt to cropland to maintain and 2014–15 2014–15 2017–18 2016–17 improve productivity. Over time, the small reservoirs were Season neglected and fell into disrepair because of land-use changes Tank irrigated Groundwater irrigated WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 8 surveys also suggest the silt application resulted in higher highest in Rajasthan (3,000 millimeters per year) (Guerra, crop yields and lower costs of cultivation, and farmers Watson, and Bhuiyan 1990). reported increased availability of water in wells. A survey by the state groundwater department found groundwater To help rural communities cope with droughts, the levels increased in 22 of the 31 districts (The Hindu 2017). government of Rajasthan aims to make villages self-reliant in The IWMI-Tata Program field studies reported increases meeting water needs. Launched in 2016, the Mukhyamantri in noncrop incomes such as fishing, cattle herding, and Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (MJSA; chief minister’s Water fermented beverages known as toddies (Shah, Bharti, and Self-Reliance Campaign) is the state’s flagship program to Verma 2017). A NABCONS (2017) assessment showed a implement the so-called “four waters concept”10 in drought- 62 percent increase in fish production in Telangana tanks. prone areas. MJSA was designed in four annual phases, with the first phase completed in July 2016 in all 295 Water Self-Reliance in Rajasthan blocks of 33 districts. The program includes constructing minor irrigation tanks; irrigation dams known as anicuts; In Rajasthan, India’s most arid state, droughts are frequent. check dams and field bunds to slow water runoff; and The state is divided into four broad geographic regions: rooftop water harvesting structures, farm ponds, staggered western desert plains, Aravalli Range and hilly regions, trenches, and continuous contour trenches to capture eastern plains, and southeastern Hadoti Plateau. To runoff. To leverage similar programs administered by other meet the needs of 5.5  percent of India’s population and line departments, MJSA also focuses on planting trees and 18.7 percent of the country’s livestock, Rajasthan has only seeds in barren wastelands, developing pastures, expanding 1.2  percent and 1.7  percent of the country’s surface and horticulture, and promoting micro-irrigation. The program groundwater resources, respectively. Rainfall is erratic and aims to create a movement on water conservation with ranges from 150 millimeters in the western desert to 900 participation of multiple departments and people working millimeters in the eastern plains. There is a high dependence together. The program focuses on increasing irrigated and on groundwater for both irrigation and drinking needs. cultivable areas and aims to bring irrigation to at least India’s Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has reported 40 percent of existing rain-fed areas to increase production. an average groundwater development of 125 percent9 in the state with overexploitation of groundwater in 47 percent of Conception, Structure, and Funding the blocks. Watershed development concepts are not new in Rajasthan. Table  2 shows the distribution of districts based on Several programs have been implemented, the most recent drought frequency, which vary from once every three years ones being the Integrated Watershed Management Program in the dry western district of Barmer to once every eight (IWMP), Hariyali Guidelines, and Pradhan Mantri Krishi years in Bharatpur. Like the drought frequency, aquifer Sinchai Yojana (Watershed Development Component). conditions vary across the state. Some areas have alluvial IWMP was initially criticized for being purely technical with aquifers of significant thickness, and others have weathered little community participation, whereas Hariyali centered and fractured hard-rock aquifers, implying that the state its work around public participation. MJSA intends to must tailor programs to match the climate and aquifer of learn from this feedback by ensuring local participation each area. Evaporation losses, which range from 1,400 to in water planning and budgeting, aided by technology, to 1,800 millimeters per year in most parts of the country, are implement a ridge-to-valley approach. TABLE 2. Distribution of Rajasthan’s Districts Based on Drought Frequency Frequency of drought (return period, years) 3 4 5 6 8 Ajmer, Bikaner, Bundi, Alwar, Banswara, Baran, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dungarpur, Bhilwara, Dausa, Jhalawar, Kota, Hanumangarh, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Pratapgarh, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Nagaur, Sri Karauli, Pali, Sawai Rajsamand, Tonk, Jalore, Jodhpur, Sirohi Ganganagar, Madhopur, Sikar, Udaipur Bharatpur, Dholpur Source: Government of Rajasthan (http://www.dmrelief.rajasthan.gov.in/images/droughtFrequency.gif) WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 9 Rajasthan River Basin and Water Resources Planning Authority US$230  million). One-third of this expenditure came (RRBWRPA) is the nodal agency to carry out the program. It from the Watershed Department, and another third came sets technical guidelines to ensure consistency among structures from the MJSA United Fund. MNREGS (the Mahatma built by various departments at district and block levels. Seven Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) other line departments are involved in MJSA: the Forest, contributed 24  percent of funding, and the remainder Water Resources, and Watershed departments are working came from various departmental funds, crowdsourcing, on water harvesting; the Horticulture, Agriculture, and Public and corporate social responsibility11 donations. Details Health Engineering Departments focus on planning; and the of financial sanctions and expenditures incurred in three Groundwater department provides technical support (figure 6). phases (ongoing) are listed in table 3. The program relies on state government funds and Technology and Sustainability department experts. RRBWRPA’s primary role is to coordinate work among the departments and manage The MJSA program boasts of using cutting-edge technology conflicts. The chief minister of Rajasthan holds regular in all steps of implementation such as a mobile phone meetings with the heads of all line departments involved application for pre-survey and detailed project reports, for progress updates. At the district level, a team with satellite imagery and geotagging for planning and representatives from all departments conducts pre-surveys, monitoring, and proposed drone surveys in the last phase. prepares detailed project reports, selects contractors, and Each team conducting field surveys for site selection is monitors work and financial sanctions. required to track its transect walk through the village. The selected sites are uploaded with geotagging and checked by In the program’s first phase, 3,529 villages were involved GIS (Geographic Information System) experts at block, through 95,192 water conservation works, with a total district, and state levels to ensure saturation of the area with expenditure of approximately ₹1,600 crores (about appropriate structures and benefits to all parts of the village. High-resolution satellite imagery is used to monitor progress FIGURE 6. Organizational Structure of the of the structure after private contractors begin construction. Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan Program The program does not have a plan for long-term sustainability of the structures that are built, but it does require third-party contractors to maintain them for two years. Contractors Forest selected for work submit a security deposit that is held for Department two monsoons and released only if the structures remain undamaged. When structures are built on private land, the farmer must contribute 5 to 10 percent (depending on Water Horticulture caste/community) and take responsibility for maintenance. Resources Department Department TABLE 3. Expenditure Details of Rajasthan’s Groundwater Department Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (Technical Program Support) Works Donations Watershed Agriculture Financial completed (CSR/ Department Department sanction (cost; individual; Phase Years (₹ crores) ₹ crores) ₹ crores) 1 2015–16 1,710 1,602 38.6 Public Health Engineering 2 2016–17 1,611 1,556 22.8 Department 3 2017–18 1,292 6.84 6.3 Source: Authors compilation from various Government of Rajasthan documents available on: http://mjsa.water.rajasthan​ Source: Prepared by authors, based on information available at .gov.in/ http://mjsa.water.rajasthan.gov.in/ Note: CSR = corporate social responsibility. WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 10 Impact and Field Impressions planning process and did not contribute any labor to the program. An internal impact assessment was conducted at the district level to study the interim results after Although geotagging was implemented in phase 1 of the two monsoons. Piezometers installed across the program, it was done after works were completed, which state recorded that out of 21 non-desert districts, resulted in misplaced and missing tags. This study found groundwater levels rose in 16 districts with an several structures either wrongly mapped or nonexistent in average increase of 1.42 meters. The program claims the tribal villages of Banswara. Many structures listed as built to have intercepted 188.39  million cubic meters of under MJSA were found to be much older, with no recent water through watershed development and created restoration work. These findings highlight the importance an additional 127.88  million cubic meters of storage of remote monitoring and the role of technology. In phase 2, capacity through tanks, anicuts, check dams, and other geotagging was done from the first stage of implementation structures (GoR 2018). To assess the MJSA program’s and progress was monitored remotely. phase 1, it is reported that participating villages saw reduced water transportation (through water tankers) by 56  percent compared to nonparticipating villages. Discussion and Conclusions That finding implies participating villages had supplies available and did not need to transport water. About Key Lessons from States 64  percent of defunct hand pumps and 20  percent of tubewells were reported rejuvenated in 2017 compared Gujarat offers a prime example of improved groundwater to 2015, indicating farmers had access to improved governance as the primary tool to build drought resilience. irrigation in dry months. A total of 44,409 hectares Through its continued emphasis on enhancing groundwater of crop area increased in rabi and zaid seasons, and recharge, and by supporting interventions in energy and an additional 2,470-hectare increase was reported as efficient irrigation technologies, Gujarat represents one a result of the improved water distribution system. of the more evolved strategies for MAR. The program’s The program also helped livestock farmers by ensuring ultimate strength lies in the continuous engagement of the water in surface structures for longer periods. About 28 government and civil society in improving groundwater lakhs trees were planted near small bodies of water to management. In his former role as chief minister of enhance green cover by 3,678 hectares, helping control Gujarat, India’s current (2019) Prime Minister Narendra soil erosion in various terrains. Modi understood the importance and mass appeal of water, energy, and agriculture sector reforms and made them central to economic growth. The emphasis on these The IWMI-Tata Program conducted fieldwork in three key sectors has continued and we find several other chief districts (Banswara, Sirohi, and Udaipur) to collect ministers also using groundwater recharge and populist qualitative insights and validate the program’s claimed farm power policies as key tools to demonstrate their impacts. Farmers from beneficiary villages reported either commitment to help farmers. no change or a positive change in groundwater levels. They also reported a positive increase in rabi irrigated areas and Maharashtra, on the other hand, seems to have chosen a “big two to three months of additional water availability in bang” approach,12 setting itself an arguably unrealistic goal to wells. In smaller structures, water continued to be present make the state drought-free by 2019. Although it probably is a even at the end of March. However, in larger structures good way to motivate and energize the implementing agencies such as talabs and percolation tanks, higher evaporation and communities, drought-proofing needs to be a continuous losses resulted in faster drying up of structures. Farmers process and not a one-time intervention. Nevertheless, the reported planting more wheat in 2017 and 2018 rabi intensity of effort has generated visible impacts in some villages in compared to previous years. Farmers also tried new crops terms of improved water availability for drinking and agriculture. in the most recent rabi season such as green gram, pulses, The government initiatives—JYS and GDGS—have attracted and oilseeds. Transporting silt to farm fields has not been support from several nongovernmental organizations, civil a focus of this program compared to similar programs in society organizations, and village communities that are taking other states, and MJSA did not monitor the quality of up additional independent efforts in support of their objectives. silt or promote farmer awareness of its benefits. In most It is difficult to predict whether the momentum will continue villages, farmers reported they were not involved in the beyond the four- to-five-year lifespan of these  programs. WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 11 As Anvesha et al. (2017) and Solanki, Santhosh, and Chhetri program has followed a unique trajectory, the origin of each (2018) have highlighted, there is high variability in the quality is rooted in the agrarian distress caused by consecutive years of implementation and impacts at the village level. It is still of drought. The fact that each of these programs has a strong early, and there is room for mid-course corrections, greater groundwater component shows that state governments are involvement of communities in implementing the programs, aware of the critical role groundwater can play in improving and learning from drought resilience. The strategies in the four states vary in terms of the maturity of program evolution, focus of specific In Telangana as well as in Rajasthan, the chief ministers interventions, funding strategies, community engagement are betting on their flagship drought-proofing programs and participation, mode of program delivery, and level of to win farmers’ support in future elections. Telangana’s effectiveness. Table 4 compares the four states’ programs. Mission Kakatiya deserves credit for highlighting the role that traditional tanks can play in promoting groundwater Although none of the programs can claim to be complete, each recharge. However, as in Maharashtra, the sustainability has highlighted the importance of at least some key elements of the program is a matter of concern. By implementing of what a successful and effective integrated drought-proofing a supply-driven, top-down program, Telangana has program might look like. The MAR program in Gujarat missed an opportunity to invest in reviving sustainable seems to be the most evolved strategy with years of experience, village institutions and empowering local communities to but it is focused largely on the supply side and is designed maintain and manage tanks. The traditional neerghati— for top-down implementation, with resource augmentation village tank manager—vanished with the decline in the as its key objective. The supportive interventions of tightly importance of tanks, and it is unclear who will maintain managing the energy-irrigation nexus and promoting micro- the tank systems when Mission Kakatiya ends. By the time irrigation technologies operate on the demand side at the the last of the 45,000 tanks are desilted, the tanks in phase 1 macro level. The recharge movement in Saurashtra included of the program will need another round of desilting. Policy much community participation, was led from the grassroots, makers must urgently address the central question: Does and was supported by a government program—unlike the government need to plan a perpetual tank rehabilitation similar groundwater recharge interventions elsewhere. There program to sustain benefits or will communities take are no specific programs in Gujarat for catalyzing village-level responsibility for managing and maintaining tanks? institutions to manage groundwater but, as highlighted in 2018 through the pre-monsoon Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay As the youngest of the initiatives covered in this case Abhiyan campaign, the government is keen to catalyze and study, Rajasthan’s village water security program, MJSA, channel collective action for groundwater augmentation. underscores the importance of technology for transparent, timely implementation and monitoring of large-scale In Maharashtra, the design of both JYS and GDGS calls for programs. MJSA also appears to have made a promising start active community participation, but field studies suggest in converging departmental efforts for holistic outcomes that villagers’ responses have been mixed. Further, both with a focus on small, low-cost, terrain-appropriate these interventions focus largely on resource augmentation structures to capture surface runoff to recharge groundwater and treat drought-proofing as a one-off exercise, which is (unlike in Maharashtra and Telangana). Whereas most other unlikely the case. Telangana’s Mission Kakatiya highlights programs focused on improving water availability, MJSA the important relationship between irrigation tanks and includes a component to improve water use efficiency. groundwater agro-ecosystems. It also illustrates the benefits However, MJSA is like Maharashtra and Telangana in that of a campaign/mission mode and statewide implementation no efforts have been made to help villages take ownership of for quick results. However, this program also suffers from community water assets and sustain the benefits following a lack of long-term strategy and misses the opportunity to the termination of government programs. revive traditional systems of community management and ownership of grassroots assets. Recently, the government Discussion of Telangana announced free power around the clock to farmers for pumping groundwater (Apparasu 2018), a In this case study, we have reviewed interventions and their move likely to ensure that any groundwater gains from impacts in four Indian states, each of which has invested in Mission Kakatiya will be set back. However, in a surprise improving groundwater recharge with the objective of helping development, some farmer groups and leaders are lobbying rural communities cope with droughts. Although each state the state government for a rollback to rationed supplies of WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 12 TABLE 4. Comparison of Drought-Proofing Programs in Four Indian States Province Particulars Gujarat Maharashtra Telangana Rajasthan Jal Yukt Shivar (JYS) Integrated strategy and Galmukt Dharan Mukhyamantri Jal for managed aquifer and Galyukt Shivar Swavlamban Abhiyan Flagship program recharge (MAR) (GDGS) Mission Kakatiya (MJSA) Watershed works and decentralized Water harvesting, water harvesting continuous contour under JYS; tank trenches, tree planting, Groundwater recharge desilting under pasture development, Intervention focus structures GDGS Tank desilting and micro-irrigation Mix of government, donor, and corporate Separate budget from social responsibility Separate budget Mostly departmental Funding strategy state revenues funds from state revenues budgets Focus on reviving traditional flow Focus on overall village Centrality of Focus on creating irrigation systems water self-reliance; groundwater as Most explicit focus and augmenting (irrigation tanks) but groundwater emphasis tool for drought- on groundwater for local water bodies with emphasis on by default in an arid proofing drought resilience for recharge recharge state MAR strategy developed after several Program Strong emphasis Extent of independent programs implemented on convergence of convergence with such as Sujalam Little or no independently in different departmental similar programs Sufalam Yojana convergence mission mode programs and schemes Conceptually included No focus on Groundwater but in practice, limited Limited to awareness groundwater demand to promotion of micro- creation about water demand Limited to promotion of management irrigation conservation management micro-irrigation In JYS, communities contribute labor and capital; in GDGS, Communities Community Community role communities manage manage silt lifting, Little community engagement and envisaged in silt lifting, transport, transport, and field engagement and participation groundwater recharge and application application participation Emphasis on training and capacity building of local institutions Low Medium Low Low Focus on long-term sustainability Low Low Low Low Strong political commitment; Strong awareness community and high corporate Works implemented Strong convergence participation; social responsibility in mission mode on potential; low-cost Key strengths integrated planning participation large scale small structures Recharge interventions planned where surplus water is Questionable if Continuity of positive available, not based on momentum will outcomes doubtful Limited funding beyond where farmers need be sustained after beyond life of the usual departmental Key weaknesses it most program ends mission budgets WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE CASE STUDY | DROUGHT-PROOFING THROUGH GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 13 farm power supply (Dayashankar 2017), possibly because NOTES they understand how devastating free farm power can be for groundwater. Rajasthan’s MJSA is perhaps the most nascent   1. IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program, Anand, India. of the set, and its impact has yet to be fully felt. Unlike  2. Tubewells are classified as shallow, medium, or deep interventions in Maharashtra and Telangana, MJSA focuses based on the depth from which they harvest groundwater. on low-cost watershed-type interventions. This work will Shallow tubewells are up to 35 meters deep, medium struggle to find community ownership except where strong tubewells are 35 to 70 meters, and deep tubewells are village-level institutions already exist to absorb the costs more than 70 meters. and responsibility of maintenance.   3. Mapped information is available from Central Ground Water Board at http://cgwb.gov.in/. The interventions in all four states focus too much on   4. Tanks are large or small reservoirs or ponds common to resource augmentation and too little on capacity building of peninsular India and Sri Lanka, often constructed many communities. Only Gujarat includes elements of demand- centuries ago. side management (through supporting interventions) and  5. Typically, when groundwater levels decline in the intent to harvest social capital through supportive policies region, farmers add “columns” to shift the submersible and programs. The Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed pump downward a few feet. When groundwater levels Groundwater Systems (APFAMGS) program in the former rise, farmers remove columns to lift the submersible Andhra Pradesh (now Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) pump closer to the ground to save energy and improve implemented a large-scale capacity-building program for discharge. Reduction in tubewell depth here indicates communities with the central premise that user awareness the level at which the submersible pumps were located. will translate into more-sustainable groundwater use   6. 1 crore = 10 million decisions—both individually and as a group. Early studies of   7. US$1 = ₹7.4 in the average 1973 annual exchange rate, APFAMGS declared it to be a resounding success and ready according to www.fxtop.com. for replication across the country (FAO 2010), yet recent   8. 1 lakh = 100,000 assessments present a more tempered picture of the realities   9. Refers to the total pumping relative to the total recharge (Reddy and Reddy 2019; Verma et  al. 2012). Although annually in percentage terms. including capacity-building activities does not ensure 10. The four waters concept concerns the harvesting of rainwater, improved results or better sustainability, field experience surface water, groundwater, and in situ soil moisture. suggests that it can significantly improve the chances of 11. Section 135 of the Companies Act (2013) requires that communities taking ownership of local water governance. every company, private limited or public limited, that has a net worth of ₹500 crores, a turnover of ₹1,000 crores, There does not seem to be a straightforward and replicable or net profit of ₹5 crores must spend at least 2 percent template for designing an optimal “drought-proofing” of its average net profit from the immediately preceding program. At the same time, astute policy makers can three financial years on corporate social responsibility draw useful lessons from the diversity of experience in the activities. western corridor states of India. Engineering community 12. 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