Making the invisible, visible: 3D aquifer models as an effective tool for building water stewardship in Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Frequent droughts, growing water demand, and the ease of accessing groundwater, particularly through boreholes, have led to an over-dependence on groundwater to meet notably agricultural demands in India. This has led the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) to motivate and capacitate rural communities for ‘water stewardship’ in which the village as a whole comes together to learn about its resources to manage them better. However, improving the management of the water resource is challenging as the general perception is that the water found below one's farm belongs to the landowner. Moreover, what is below the surface is not visible, therefore not well understood. Thus, WOTR designed a water stewardship initiative (WSI) with the Community-Driven Visual Integrator (CoDriVE-VI or CDVI) as one of the important tools; it produces an operational 3D map of the local aquifer. WOTR implemented the WSI in villages in Maharashtra, India. This paper evaluates the impacts and potential of the WSI and CDVI. We observed that the visual effect of these 3D models of aquifers helps local communities and farmers better understand and appreciate groundwater as a shared resource. This tool is effective in promoting water stewardship, achieving behavioural change in water users, and helping implement groundwater laws and policies. HIGHLIGHTS The behaviour of groundwater users is discussed and tools are presented to align it with sustainable aquifer use.; There are too few pilots on aquifer management; most pilots are at the scale of the village or watershed.; This pilot brings science, policy, and practice together and improves groundwater governance.; Essential insight is gained to protect depleting aquifers through community engagement.;

Keywords

• aquifer management
• behavioural change
• groundwater governance
• resilience building
• water budget
• water stewardship