Groundwater levels across India have been falling rapidly, affecting the livelihood and wellbeing of village communities. Top-down approaches to groundwater management have not worked. The MARVI project, ‘Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustaining Groundwater Use through Village-level Intervention’, was a village-level participatory approach for measuring groundwater levels and improving groundwater productivity.
The MARVI team led trans-disciplinary research on sustainable groundwater management in India. Nine organisations from three countries, 35 researchers and 36 farmer researchers worked together to improve the groundwater situation.
<p>The project has developed a participatory approach, models and tools that can effectively work for villagers to monitor groundwater and rainfall. Villagers can also plan for sustainable groundwater use through village groundwater cooperatives. The approach is ready to extend and adapt beyond the study watersheds.</p>
More than half of India is undergoing serious water stress and the situation is expected to worsen in the future. In rural communities, reduced availability of groundwater constrains food production, jeopardises farm incomes, catalyses increased urban migration, and fractures community cohesion and harmony.
<p>The management of groundwater has become quite complex due to a range of actors involved in its development and use. MARVI—Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustaining Groundwater Use through Village-level Intervention - was a collaborative project between India and Australia.</p>
It aimed to improve cooperative decision-making for sustainable groundwater use. This required developing a village-level participatory approach to measure groundwater levels, rainfall, water quality and check-dam water levels, and improve water use efficiency.
A total of eight organisations were involved in the MARVI project with Western Sydney University leading the project. The other partners were (i) CSIRO Land & Water; (ii) International Water Management Institute; (iii) Arid Communities & Technologies; (iv) Development Support Centre; (v) Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology; (vi) Vidya Bhawan Krishi Vigyan Kendra; and (vii) Mekong Futures Research Institute.
The MARVI project was carried out in two watersheds in India with hard-rock aquifers, one in Rajasthan and the other one in Gujarat. In total, 11 villages were involved. The main activities in MARVI included creating awareness about the extent of the groundwater problem; capacity building of the local people to monitor, quantify and manage groundwater resources; and piloting village groundwater cooperatives.
<p>A unique feature of MARVI was the development of Bhujal Jaankaars (BJs), a Hindi word meaning ‘groundwater informed’. These are volunteers who went through training and capacity building to monitor rainfall, groundwater levels and quality, and water levels in check dams, and who worked as local champions.</p>
BJs monitored water table fluctuations in 350 dug wells weekly for more than five years. They also monitored rainfall and water levels in check dams. The monitoring was the basis for the first comprehensive water database at the village level.
<p>The project also developed the <a href="https://vesselstech.com/mywell.html">MyWell app</a> (currently available only on the Android platform but it will soon be available on iOS platform as well) for volunteers to use to record water data and make them widely available to improve understanding of the groundwater situation. Other tools and protocols were developed to understand aspects of annual groundwater recharge, water availability for irrigation, crop water demand and agronomic practices that will improve groundwater sustainability.</p>
The project integrated environmental, social, and economic dimensions through the following key activities:
Also, a detailed socio-economic study, along with crop demonstrations, engagement through PhotoVoice and community forums, was conducted to understand farmers’ needs and capacities and explore what changes will work for future groundwater management strategies.
<p>Overall, the advanced groundwater knowledge of farmers, local communities (including schools) and decision-makers and built the capacity of villagers and other stakeholders to improve cooperative decision making for sustainable groundwater use.</p>
The educational approach in the MARVI project was based on ‘adult and action learning principles’ and focussed on training of BJs 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 communities.
<p>The BJs went through a training program of seven modules in a series of sessions (totalling 45 days) that covered mapping, land and water resource analysis, geo-hydrology, water balance analysis, and groundwater management strategies at their level and practical needs.</p>
The training was designed in the local language and used simple terminologies. Experienced trainers were engaged in the training process and it was continually reviewed and refined. The training included lectures in both classroom and field; practical mapping and data collection exercises in the field; and the review and verification of data and maps in the classroom.
Also, experienced BJs were engaged in the process to facilitate and mentor the learning for new BJs, acting as ‘senior peers’ to boost their self-confidence. Post-training mentoring of BJs was an important element of the MARVI as the BJs are community representatives and knowledgeable resource persons.
Thanks to all MARVI project team members in Australia and India, BJs, participating schools, and farming communities for their generous support through this MARVI journey.
The research in the MARVI project was led by Western Sydney University (WSU) in partnership with CSIRO Land & Water, Development Support Centre (DSC), Arid Communities and Technologies, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT), Vidya Bhawan Krishi Vigyan Kendra (VBKVK) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
The funding for this project was provided by the Australian Water Partnership and Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
Authors
Prof. Basant Maheshwari, Western Sydney University
Dr Yogesh Jadeja, Arid Communities and Technologies
Dr P.K. Singh, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology,
Shri Mohan Sharma, Development Support Centre and
Shri Hasmukh Gehlot, Vidya Bhawan Krishi Vigyan Kendra
Project team
Dr S.R. Bhakar, Shri Pranav Chauhan, Dr Yogita Dashora, Dr Peter Dillon, Dr Brenda Dobia, Dr Dharma Hagare, Dr Mahesh Kothari, Dr Rai Kookana, Dr Anil Mehta, Adj. Assoc. Prof. Roger Packham, Shri Sachin Oza, Dr Pravin Patil, Shri Prahlad Soni, Assoc. Prof. Maria Varua, Dr K.K. Yadav, and Dr John Ward
Former project team members and other collaborators
Dr Michael Chew, Dr Pennan Chinnasamy (IIT, Mumbai), Mr Lewis Daley (VesselsTech), Shri Sham Davande (ACT/FES), Dr Hakimuddin, Dr A.S. Jodha, Dr Hemant Mittal, Shri Dhavan Nagar, Shri Ashish Kumar Patel, Dr Paul Pavelic, Dr S. Prathapar, Prof. Ramesh Purohit, Dr P.S. Rao, Dr Tushaar Shah, Dr S.S. Sisodia, Shri Brijen Thakar, Dr Murli Viswanathan (Carnegie Melon University) and Shri Rajesh Yadav
All images are by MARVI.