my well my water: can citizens become stewards of groundwater?
TRANSCRIPT
My well, My waterCan citizens become stewards of
groundwater?
Groundwater abstraction
Pic: Zenrainman
Pic: The Hindu
ContextUrban groundwater
1. Averaged for 71 cities and towns, groundwater constitutes 48% of the share
in urban water supply (Narain, 2012).
2. Unaccounted water in urban areas exceeds 50% according to the CGWB’s
report on the groundwater scenario in 28 Indian cities (CGWB, 2011).
56 %
Here in Bengaluru!Population as per 2011 Census
8.4 million
Population in 2015 11 million
Demand @ 135 LPCD (Liters per capita per day)
1485 MLD (Million Litres a day)
Quantity of water sourced from Cauvery by BWSSB
1410 MLD
Leakages – 40% ~500 MLD
Groundwater to the rescue!
~575 MLD
New borewells added each month- from 2009-2010
Source: Groundwater hydrology and groundwater quality in and around Bangalore city. A book by Department of Mines and Geology, March 2011
Total 14.88% increase in borewells from Jan 2009-January 2010
Falling groundwater levels
TDS: values of >1000 mg/L:- SE zone accounts for 33% followed by NE zone and NW zone with 27.5% and 25.54% respectively
Groundwater quality in Bangalore
Source: Groundwater hydrology and groundwater quality in and around Bangalore city. A book by Department of Mines and Geology, March 2011
Citizen movements
Courtesy: Citizen matters
Courtesy: The Hindu
Citizen response
A private layout completely dependenton groundwater demonstrates exemplary
self- regulation solutions from sourceto sink
Rainbow Drive Layout
A heartening story of citizen drivenrevival and stewardship of the
Kaikondrahalli Lake
Kaikondrahalli Lake
What we learn from these practices,
can we apply these at the aquifer level?
PARTICIPATORY AQUIFER MAPPING
Collaborators: BIOME Environmental Trust, ACWADAM (Pune), MAPUNITY (Bengaluru) and WIPRO This is work in progress…
Lots of open questions.
Hypothesis
Water literate citizenry
Push them towards self-regulation
Learnings for governance
Citizens :share the story of their wells and their water
with the city
Knowledge partners:Collation,
interpretation, scenario building and management
responses
Virtual platform: Visualisation &
communication platform
Conversation & dialogue space
Citizens :Conversations
CommunicationEngagement with
Governance & Advocacy
Implement responses
Project area
Name of the watershed Yamalur sub- watershed
Number of microwatersheds 8Total Area (sq. km) 33.81 Area under BBMP (sq.km) 23.55Non BBMP area (sq.km) 10.26Number of Lakes (known) 15Number of open wells (identified)
22
Total Residential Population 123780
Data collection• Well and borewell data – static water
levels, pumping and water quality• Water demand/consumption data• Waste water generation data• Data on Waste water management• Stories about water and wastewater
narratives from citizens
Types of Stakeholders Processes of engagement & nature of participation
Contribution
RWAs, POAs individual households and individual citizens
Contribution of data from their own records, permission to install regular monitoring devices, one time measurements onsite. Engagement through events / workshops. Creation of “Citizen data Volunteers”
Data & stories about demand, supply, wells/borewells & waste water managementSkills such as documentation, video/photo & communication designOpen source tools such as for data collection & mobile apps
Schools & Educational institutions For creating awareness about sustainable water management- through rainwater harvesting, recharge well construction, water quality awareness
Business campuses and their employees
Sharing of the questionnaire for data collection through emails and telephonic discussion
Service providers (Borewell diggers, camera inspection, tanker operators, etc)
One-on-one conversations, Events & workshops
Data from their service records, knowledge of what’s happening in the region
Other researchers Knowledge partnering Research skills, other data and knowledge
Formal institutions (CGWB, BBMP, KSPCB, etc.)
Creating a space for dialogue between citizens and the institutions, direct engagement for knowledge exchange
Secondary data, lake DPRs, knowledge sharing
Software platform-www.groundwaters.in
• Close the feedback loop• Communicate to citizens-good practices, implementation of
them, governing regulations and laws, contacts of various service providers to enable implementation, etc.
• Provide a space for continued conversations for peer learning
Learnings and looking aheadHydrogeology and interpretation of data- demystifying the science of groundwater in ways which citizenry finds useful is a challenge in itself
Importance of peer to peer learning
Not all ‘governance institutions’ are unwilling to listen- Citizen dialogue with KSPCB
Challenges• What happens if this region gets
access to BWSSB supply?• How do we engage with the
disadvantaged groups within this watershed?
• Change in leadership
[email protected]@biome-solutions.com