M S S R F - Centre for Research on Sustainable Agricultural & Rural Development

Presentation

"Integrated Water Resources Management Approaches: Global and National Scenario" - A Public Forum

- by Dr. R. Sakthivadivel

IWMI Senor fellow &Visiting faculty, Anna University,

For the last two years I have been trying to implement the Integrated Water Resources (IWRM) in Indian conditions in two systems, one is a tank system and the other one in a watershed system, let me explain the type of difficulties that we face in implementing IWRM, in a context of developing economy such as India and then what are the solutions for implementing in the next few years. Next I think it is very known figure, but if we consider India, India has the world's largest irrigation sector, 90% diverted water used on 60 million hectares, world's largest ground water use 200 cubic km pumped annually. Massive investment in Land and Water Management, Government of India put 3 billion US $ per year in Watershed Development alone.

Where do we stand in respect to resource availability and river basin development in India.

I think Dr.Velayutham mentioned about decreasing per capita of the quality of water. If you look from 1947 upto 2047, next to 20 to 30 years, we are in the region of water stress. In the next 10 to 12 years we will move to what we call the Water Scarcity, that mean for sustainable living we need as per estimate of Thomson meter cube of water we will be going below that for 800 m3 all and average but there are pockets that will reach below as low as 400 m3

But if we look at the places of river basin management where are we in India? River Basin Management can be divided into three phases - Development Phase, Utilisation Phase and Reallocation Phase. If we look at India in may of the cases we have already done. Of course there are certain phases if we look at overall there are much more water to be harvested. But in many basin we have developed all the water especially in Tamil Nadu we have also done Utilisation Phase and we have also reached the reallocation phase that means no water is getting out of the system. You have certain quantity of water and you should be able to manage that amount of water. So the question of when you have problem with water, till now we have been asking where would I get the water. We have come to a stage you should ask a question How can I use the available water in a more useful and productive way? That is what is reallocation. Allocating the water to higher value plans

The present focus in watershed if you look at it this is a case you have a catchement area or you have a tank ot and a waterspread area and then you have a rainfed and command area Who are the people who are looking at it? This is a study from Karnataka in a watershed of 1000 hectares there are three organisations working on it. One is watershed development funded by the World Bank next there in another project Tank Modernisation Project funded by the World Bank, th third one is Drinking Water Supply Project funded by the World Bank. All the three in the same basin, but none of them see eye to eye. Each one is trying to recreate or reinvent the wheel. This is the situation taking place in the watershed.

What is the actual problem that we face? Acute water scarcity and our friend said that water power is excess most river basins are closed except Brahmaputra and Western Ghat region. Groundwater use - more than 67% of irrigated land is using ground water 20 million tube wells in the country. 1 million tube wells every year. 30% of India's power is utilised to pump groundwater and power utilities are bankrupt.6 million US $ annual operating deficit, growing urban water demand 500 million people living in the city y 2020. More than 50-60% will be urban areas. Most utilisable water is developed. Please note utilisable water. There are sporadic funds floods like this time, which is not utilisable water on its long term average in many of the basins have been utilised. Many of these economy to grow at 6 to 8% and population by 2%

In this scenario how you have to meet this. This is the problem we have to face. Watershed development scenario in India, some of the issues relating to institutions one of the biggest problem in India is not that of the technicality or the technical expertise. Indians are very good in designing and operating all those system. It is the institution that chambers the whole thing. Let us see some of the problems. Whoa re the stakeholders that we are talking about in rainfed agriculture or watershed. In the watershed you have the poverty concentrated in rainfed agriculture. Most of the farmers live in the rainfed region. Women and girl children are burdened with the responsibility of bringing drinking water to the household because during summer many wells become dry. They have to walk miles to bring water, who are the people burdend? The women and the girl children. Owners of livestock, including sheeps, goats, cows and buffaloes, often landless people. They have to sell it. No fodder, no grazing land and they have to sell it. Irrigated agriculture farmers they compete with each other. In deepening, owners of deep bore wells, shallow open wells and those from benefiting from tank irrigation but there are lots of competition in going deep and trying to get that water which is not there and trying to go down and that you can see.

Chief concern among the stakeholders we talked about stekholders. What are the keys? First of all you fo to any watershed drinking water for all is a priority. In this community irrigation for a few so if you take a sample of 100 farmers in a village 80 of them give first to drinking water. Farmers stand turns from irrigation to percolation structure. Many of the tanks which have been a flow of gravity flow irrigation today have become they have completely closed. The water is stored and water is allowed to percolate and they take the water from the wells and use it. Percolating structure

Watershed community sees groundwater rechargers have major benefit from soil and water conservation method. This is again a problem, you are upstream side you have a rainfed farmer and on downstream side you have a tank irrigated farmer. If you go and do the watershed project by bunding, the rainfed farmer catechs most of the water, the tank becomes dry. If you don't allow the rainfed farmers to bund it, then the water will come to the tank. Now where should we have this water? And how should we manage it? Is another major problem.

Here is some result. Now this is yellow line for three watersheds that we had taken in Karnataka, Thumadi, Erur and Edda. The official supply they say during the summer is 85 litres/capita/day but actually it was when we measured was only 22 litres. 35 I the official figure and is 22 and another is 28 and 21. You can see the difference between what is officially stated and what they obtained in household. Look at the I talked about trends in number of wells in particular watershed. There is a very big competition for water and underground water. In the case of borewells in 10 years back there were 600 today, there are 797. If we come to another one, the present situtation bore wells in another watershed 1260. Ten years before 700, now you can see number of wells so the water that have obtained the potential of the occurance in the same and number of wells are increasing the cost is going up and the water that is pumped out of wells is becoming less and less.

This is the case of the present area to be irrigated by all. Ypu can see from 1990 onwards there is a steep increase in the dvelopment of wells and now it has started to decrease because many of the wells have become defunct..now wells are failing at a alarming rate (Example One of the villages that we have gone failed bore wells have become 20 successing borewells are 8. The total investment on failed bore wells is Rs.4,80,000 rupees. You can see why the farmer suicide. The major reason is many of the areas I the competitive borings and putting the money in boring these wells and getting loss.

Now accessed water and food security. If you look at the watershed concept, you have all the three accessed water. Low accessed water, medium accessed water and hig acess and the type of cop they grow and the marketable cash crop. The fellow who has a high accessed water, he grows paddy for his consumption, and then coconut, banana, mulberry, sugarcane, whereas the low fellow groundnut, pigeonpea, green gram, and sesame. Just those are the things and therefore they are still poor and marginal farmers.

Joni. This is one of the important ones. You see in India we have somebody was telling we have all the legislaion, law, rules and other things. Here are three villages. Public water supply has 7.5 HP. According to the rules nobody should put a well within a distance of 250 m from a drinking water well.

We come to the first case there are four wells which have the total capacity of 30 HP. In the second village there are six wells with total capacity of 33 HP, in the third village there are seven wells with 39 HP.now how can these people can get water while they are pumping for irrigation for water like these. So there are rules. But there are no monitary mechanisms. Even if you monitor, how do you provide the determined, because unless you take stern actions. The rules are not going to work because I think I will strip out with the water tank. This is another case same called of a NABARD watershed project and community share project working together and what are the things they are constructing without much coordination. Now towards a solution what is that we are looking for? If you go for a way watershed planning for meeting all water demand in meso watershed. Water accounting and trade off how much water I have how much water I use for different purpose and if there excess use, how do I trade off. Between rainfed agriculture farmers and irrigated agriculture farmers like that many other things. One of the major problems that we are facing today in the Indian Context is the Water Literacy through microcapacity of hydrology. For example if have an aquifer, that I can produce village level and say that if you put a well here you are sure that you are not going to get water. If nine can be confident and if this particular information can reduce the number of failed borewells to a very great extent. Local self government and tank ma nagged water resources build there capacity. I think that this is a point come back to this my argument in the implemeting IWRM is to decentralise, go down to the panchayat, create a self help group and involve them and it has worked in certain places and I will give the results.

Here is the case if you take the actors involving in the tank system there is service users community, there can be tank associations, it can be self help group or tank users group. Then there is service providers, that is a government department. Then there is a service facilitators there are NGOs. You can see that in twenty years before the line was service providers and users. After sometime service facilitators to the communities. Today we have learnt the lesson. That is the combination of the three in the tank rehabilitation project in both Karnataka and Ponicherry. This model is working whereas the tank association is not only the patta holders and not only the people who have the land on lease. If all the village people including the SC people. Therefore the common property concept has come into the and that is the only way to wake the community to work. And if you look at the watershed level it was a combination of microwatershed is a tank or small structure. If you further it you get into a watershed level. Now the panchayat act allows have more than one committee - tank users groups have been formed into these. So these local groups committees can be connected to the panchayat and can be federated within the watershed to become a block.

Now DWT Guidelines for implementing IWRM rules they are given three or four major points and I have taken only these.

Policy concerning water use, protection and water conservation which need to be drafted at a highest level of the Government. India has done this, we have a policy. But the problem in policies made at a highest level has very legal operational effect. In India there is lack of institutional mechanism to plan, coordinate and to implement water development across state boundaries and among users. You have a rule but there is not way to implement it.

Creating a confusing institutional framework on adapating extinguished situation. For example in TN water resource organisation is supposed to be a parent organisation for all water related activities. However there many departments, organisations such as Metro Water Board, Pollution, Water Board, Central Ground Water Board, Department of Agriculture, each one formulaing their own policy eventually contradicting with each other. This is precisely the case. I do not say these institutions should not be there. At least planning we have the same a case that in the water, now the question in how should I cut the cake, who will get what? And that in the planning should be done and i.e., exactly what we call as the Integrated Water Planning. Once you had one that, that can be implemented and it can be monitored.

Appropriate management stratergy the key elements are assessment of water resources through maintaining a balance water for livelihood and water for ecology and to make efforts to popularise the man side information for known efficiency use of water. If we look at India especially many of the states our water institutions are fractured. The fractured institutional structure, myopic policies coupled with competitive populism by the political parties and lack of political will stand in the way to adapt any team management instruments prescribed by IWRM. This is the state we are in.

No what is the solution we are looking for? I have been arguing that the water law, water policy, water administration is the institutional environment whereas the institutional arrangement the one that implement is the strucuture on that human eco's dealing with each other. Ex if you want to given me an example of institutional arrangements, spontaneous organisations eg in Gujarat recharge are the movements. It comes automatically. In these case the self help group. It is those which are the most important one and we need to strengthen it.

This is the last line and I would like you to show this, why is that many higher studies that we conduct which shows very good results in not taking off why is the government not able to do that one if you look at in matrix form the transaction part involved in implementing these projects are so high that the man wants to buy that. So the bottom line is if you want anyone of this IWRM is to be implemented in this country it should be the decentralised with what we call the transaction al cost must be low. Such that transaction cost can be low only with the local indigenous and what we call the Syambu Organisation. Those organisations are public viewal transfer, intelligent management of power supply, improved drain system management, private and reverse osmosis pland and clear water vouchers for the poor and decentralised recharge movements. These have come up by themselves. It is not the government, but when it started working then the media has come into the providers these things and governments goes and find this.TO close this, what I am tryin to say in Indian context, IWRM cannoted be implemented in this course for the simple reason, the transaction costs is so much, and this is true not only in India it is true in all the countries where the economy is poor or is not developed. Then where can you implement IWRM strategy it has to be succeeded. It works in the only matured economy. In the matured economy the only countries like Europe, countries like the United States, IWRM has succeeded. In not country like ours, where to give (eg) one of my best friends in Gujarat he was top administrative officer an later he became an head for an NGO when the ground water act was passed and he went to the Chief Minister to get the signature he looked at it two or three times and he said he wont sign after all of those things. He asked Sir, everthing has been done why you don't want to sign? If I sign the Groundwater Bill who are the people who are going to get benefited. It is not the farmers. You are not going to ask the whole. It is the Calathy who will simply write that there is no well and he will get money from the farmers and the beneficiaries in that of the revenue or the Calathy and you cannot get with them and therefore I cannot do this. I cannot sign under this condition we have to go for a long way. Our economy has to be developed. We musy come to mature stage. Only then we can adapt IWRM strategy i.e, it doesn't mean we should initiative the Syambu Organisation and I am very happy that Secretary Mrs.Gariyali is here and the Self Help Group is making a big way and I am confident that in the next 5 years they will empowered people and in Karnataka and if you are going to ask for a contract it is not the farmers or the contractors are coming and talking. It is the SKP yu give the contract to us and that kind of an empowerment has come. Therefore India must start working from the bottom, leaving alone the agencies, laws, administarions and policies and go ahead with implementation.