India is on the threshold of a major water crisis, for which it seems least prepared. In the next 25 years, it is expected to face absolute water scarcity. Currently, India suffers from massive regional variations in its water situation. Nearly one-third of the country is drought-prone, having a severe scarcity of drinking water, besides depleting groundwater resources and deteriorating water quality. In stark contrast, a fourth of India is prone to floods and surface water logging after normal monsoons. In West Bengal, groundwater is contaminated with arsenic, whereas the rest of India needs to figure out how to deal with rising content of fluoride and nitrates in drinking water supplies drawn predominantly from groundwater wells.
India has a huge scientific competence base in water resources comprising hydrologists, hydro-geologists, water resource engineers, water quality experts and soil scientists. Unfortunately, the nation’s water strategies are formulated by politicians or bureaucrats, who have little understanding of the crux of the problems. Science has little impact on policy, unless the scientific work and ideas are presented in a policy-relevant fashion. Against this backdrop, the Trust has supported research initiatives that seek solutions in water related issues.
The IWMI - Tata Water Policy Research Programme (IWMI-Tata Programme) was launched in 2000 by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo and the Trust. The International Water Management Institute is a non-profit scientific research organization specializing in water use in agriculture and integrated management of water and land resources. The IWMI-Tata Programme presents new perspectives and practical solutions derived from the wealth of research done in India on water resource management. Its objective is to help policy makers at the central, state and local levels address their water challenges – in areas such as sustainable groundwater management, water scarcity, and rural poverty – by translating research findings into practical policy recommendations. The IWMI-Tata Programme collaborates with a range of partners across India, to identify, analyze and document relevant water-management approaches and current practices.
The first phase of the IWMI-Tata Programme came to an end in December 2005. Some of the key outputs emanating over the five years period include: (a) idea incubation and providing “seed-science” for ground action, which has led the Trust to support various organisations in its ‘Central India Initiative’ in their efforts to enhance livelihoods through Natural Resources Management, besides supporting the IWMI-Tata Programme in its ‘North Gujarat Initiative; and (b) influencing water policy at various levels. The second phase of the IWMI-Tata Programme commenced in January 2006. The key areas of focus for this phase are: (a) idea incubation for the Trust, wherein IWMI-Tata Programme shall strive to generate ideas that have far reaching positive consequences on the poor and thus offer important funding opportunities to the Trust; (b) technical backstopping for the Trust, wherein IWMI-Tata Programme shall provide and arrange technical support in project appraisal, monitoring and evaluation on behalf of the Trust in projects that have Natural Resources Management as a significant component; (c) retaining the emphasis on water policy issues, whilst seeking to adopt a holistic approach to address the issues of Natural Resources Management comprehensively; (d) adopting a “multi-location research strategy”, by building up a national profile on a range of important policy issues in water sector, generating a detailed profile of a dozen regions that capture most of India’s hydro-geographic diversities and augmenting capacity for research in water policy in a number of partners in those locations; (e) expending significant efforts at capacity building of water sector researchers; and (f) undertaking research in organizational and institutional processes in the agencies involved in the water sector, whilst exploring, understanding and incorporating the real constraints at improving policy formulation and implementation.
Dissemination of the studies conducted by the IWMI-Tata Programme is facilitated thorough the Annual Partners’ Meet, which, in 2006, was attended by around 190 researchers, development professionals and representatives of international organizations and leading water scientists from India and abroad. Substantial participation from central and state governments was also the hallmark of this meet, which saw the presentation of a total of 73 discussion papers under 11 diverse themes. (Click here to read more on this event)
Since January 2001, the Trust has committed Rs. 95 million (Rs. 45 million during Phase I and Rs. 50 million during Phase II) to the IWMI-Tata Programme, towards research on a wide spectrum of water management concerns including groundwater over-exploitation problems, low agricultural productivity, water logging and salinity problems, promoting micro-irrigation, groundwater recharge and rainwater harvesting, revival of tank irrigation, groundwater management in Gujarat, etc.
Effective September 2002, the Trust has also supported the IWMI-Tata Programme to undertake the “North Gujarat Sustainable Groundwater Initiative” (NGI), (click here to read more) which endeavours to locate and replicate community based local strategies to arrest groundwater depletion and improve the livelihood of the rural poor in Banaskantha district. The first phase of NGI came to an end in June 2005. During this period, the NGI led to, amongst other things: (i) increased knowledge of several low-cost water saving irrigation devices, vermi-composting and other scientific composting practices; (ii) adoption of different types of water saving irrigation systems, particularly micro-tube drips in existing horticultural plantations, drip systems and mini-sprinklers in alfalfa and vegetable cultivation by women farmers using bucket kit drips; (iii) plantation of horticultural saplings and adoption of vermi-composting by several farmers; (v) setting up of decentralized rural desalination systems in two villages, besides a documentation and experimentation farm on agricultural water management; and (vii) development and implementation of a communication package on the theme of local groundwater management. During Phase I, several lessons were learnt, which were incorporated into the design of the Phase II of the initiative, which commenced in July 2005. The ongoing Phase II: (i) creates wider awareness about the negative socio-economic and ecological consequences of farming practices that depend on intensive use of groundwater; (ii) facilitates large-scale adoption of sustainable farming practices in north Gujarat region by continuing to develop a set of replicable models for economically and ecologically sustainable farming practices, which ordinary farmers can manage, besides assisting local partners to evolve and implement strategies for promoting the alternatives already tested in the newly-selected project villages; and (iii) analyzes the impact of various interventions on water use, biomass productivity, local groundwater regime and disseminates learnings.
Management of Technology in Arid Areas: A Long Term Programme – Click here to download