The role of transdisciplinary approach and community participation in village scale groundwater management: Insights from Gujarat and Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Sustainable use of groundwater is becoming critical in India and requireseffective participation from local communities along with technical, social, economic,policy and political inputs. Access to groundwater for farming communities is also anemotional and complex issue as their livelihood and survival depends on it. In this article,we report on transdisciplinary approaches to understanding the issues, challenges andoptions 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 andmethodology with associated tools that will assist in improving supply and demandmanagement of groundwater. The study was conducted in the Meghraj watershed inAravalli district, Gujarat, and the Dharta watershed in Udaipur district, Rajasthan, India.The study involved the collection of hydrologic, agronomic and socio-economic data andengagement of local village and school communities through their role in groundwatermonitoring, field trials, photovoice activities and education campaigns. The study revealedthat availability of relevant and reliable data related to the various aspects of groundwaterand developing trust and support between local communities, NGOs and governmentagencies are the key to moving towards a dialogue to decide on what to do to achievesustainable use of groundwater. The analysis of long-term water table data indicatedconsiderable fluctuation in groundwater levels from year to year or a net lowering of thewater table, but the levels tend to recover during wet years. This provides hope that byimproving management of recharge structures and groundwater pumping, we can assist instabilizing the local water table. Our interventions through Bhujal Jankaars (BJs), (a Hindiword meaning "groundwater informed" volunteers), schools, photovoice workshops andnewsletters have resulted in dialogue within the communities about the seriousness of thegroundwater issue and ways to explore options for situation improvement. The BJs arenow trained to understand how local recharge and discharge patterns are influenced bylocal rainfall patterns and pumping patterns and they are now becoming local champions ofgroundwater and an important link between farmers and project team. This study hasfurther strengthened the belief that traditional research approaches to improve thegroundwater situation are unlikely to be suitable for complex groundwater issues in thestudy areas. The experience from the study indicates that a transdisciplinary approach islikely to be more effective in enabling farmers, other village community members andNGOs to work together with researchers and government agencies to understand thegroundwater situation and design interventions that are holistic and have wider ownership.Also, such an approach is expected to deliver longer-term sustainability of groundwater ata regional level.