The current approach to deal with surface water and groundwater independently has serious limitations.
The current approach to deal with surface water and groundwater independently has serious limitations.
The theme of this year’s World Water Day (22 March) was ‘Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible’, The primary focus is to draw attention to the role of groundwater in water and sanitation systems, agriculture, industry, ecosystems and climate change adaptation. Groundwater helps reduce the risk of temporary water scarcity and meets the needs of arid and semi-arid regions, but its value in policy making has not been fully recognized. While dependence on groundwater is increasing everywhere, there are serious issues such as depletion and deterioration of quality of stored groundwater. Water security is threatened by high temperatures and drought. Due to its high storage capacity, groundwater is more resilient to the effects of climate change than surface water. The International Conference on ‘Groundwater, the Key to Sustainable Development Goals’ (May 2022) and the United Nations-Water Summit on Groundwater (December 2022) are part of global initiatives to highlight the importance of groundwater in sustainable development.
With an annual groundwater extraction of 248.69 billion cubic meters (2017), India is one of the largest users of groundwater in the world. About 89% of the extracted groundwater is used for irrigation and the rest for domestic and industrial uses (9% and 2%).
extraction value
According to the Central Ground Water Board, annual groundwater extraction is considered safe when the extraction rate is less than 70% of the annual replenishable recharge. Available data indicate that the level of extraction for the country was 63% in 2017, up from 58% in 2004. However, the level varied from region to region. Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have crossed the 70% mark. Out of 534 districts in 22 States/UTs, the evacuation stage in 202 districts ranged from 71% to 385%. NITI Aayog has set a target of achieving 70% extraction value by 2030.
In addition to the high level of clearance, quality is also a concern. A district safe by quantity may become unsafe due to deterioration in water quality. Fluoride, iron, salinity, nitrate and arsenic contamination are major problems. 335 districts reported nitrate pollution, compared to 109 in 2006. A high level of nitrates affects human health. The sources of nitrates are mainly anthropogenic and depend on local actions. Biological contamination has also been reported from different parts of the country.
change attitude
The current approach to deal with surface water and groundwater independently has serious limitations. As proposed by the Mihir Shah Committee (2016), the Central Water Commission and the Central Ground Water Board could be united and a national water framework could be developed with an integrated perspective. There is also a need to work on local level plans covering water resources in all their forms: rainwater, surface water, soil water and groundwater and resource use areas. Groundwater, surface water and the interstitial landscape form part of a matrix, and together with the vegetation system they form the critical zone, where most terrestrial life resides.
To re-establish the relationship between surface and groundwater systems for both governance and management, a local area approach is required that includes the current groundwater assessment process, large-scale aquifer mapping, mapping of aquifers along river basin/watershed boundaries. Linking, hydrogeomorphology analysis, and factoring of human-induced changes in land use and water systems. It is imperative to link the cropping pattern and cropping intensity with the groundwater availability, aquifer type and the current status of groundwater extraction at the farm level. Currently, there is an energy subsidy for groundwater extraction with little regulation. It encourages farmers to draw water at will. In this context there is a larger issue of ownership of community resources. Although groundwater recharge occurs through a groundwater process and is not limited to administrative or property boundaries, a landowner has an exclusive right to the groundwater available in his property. A community resource is thus transformed into a private resource due to the location of the extraction site. In this context the re-expression of the legal framework for groundwater use acquires relevance.
The new paradigm for groundwater management is a socio-ecological challenge, where locality matters. It guarantees technological, economic, legal and governance reforms with room for active public participation and community regulatory options to maintain groundwater balance at the village/watershed level.
Sreekumar Chattopadhyay is National Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research, and former Scientist, National Center for Earth Science Studies