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

Groundwater is a crucial component of water resources as it constitutes about two-thirds of the world's freshwater resources (Chilton, 1992). It is also broadly described as the world's ‘hidden treasure’: an invisible resource that provides safe drinking water and livelihood security to millions of people in arid regions (Chevalking et al., 2008). India is the largest groundwater extracting country, and thus the groundwater is the lifeline for drinking, domestic, industrial, livelihood, and irrigation purposes (Shah, 2013).

Although a precious and life-saving resource, groundwater has for decades faced multiple challenges at different levels, particularly in its management and regulation. Many approaches have been designed and tested for decades. However, practice has shown that at a broader level, these are often not sustainable. The groundwater resource is challenging to manage because of its invisible nature and the belief that groundwater is a private resource, which leads to its over-use and the drastic decline in groundwater levels. In addition, changing precipitation patterns increases evapotranspiration rates caused by rising temperatures, and changes in the runoff cycle affect groundwater recharge rates (Kale & D'souza, 2019). Therefore, besides the further development of available resources, proper groundwater management requires attention to the judicious utilisation of the resource to ensure its long-term availability.

As the result of groundwater development and deregulation over the last four decades, around 84% of the total net addition to the irrigated area in India has come from groundwater use (Shah, 2013), and nearly 90% of the rural water supply is being met from groundwater sources (Prakash et al., 2013). However, in 2004, 28% of India's blocks (district sub-division) were already showing alarmingly high levels of groundwater extraction (Planning Commission, 2011) which rose to 31% in 2013 (CGWB, 2013). The State of Maharashtra, where the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) implemented the water stewardship initiative (WSI) and where the present study is located, has 52% of its area prone to drought, and most of the state has deep layers of hard impervious basalt rock called the Deccan Trap. These conditions render this belt highly susceptible to groundwater stress. Drinking water shortages are a recurring phenomenon in many parts of the state. In the summer of 2015, for the first time, the government was forced to run special water trains over a distance of 300 km to supply potable water to water-scarce areas of the Latur district (Kale, 2017). Furthermore, the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA, 2019) reports that in Maharashtra, water levels have dropped from 1 to 3 m in 245 out of 353 talukas (townships) between 2014 and 2019.

Climate change and changing monsoon patterns are raising a second challenge. Regarding climate change, India is one of the largest and most vulnerable regions (Thow & Blois, 2008). The hydrological cycle is already being impacted (Dragoni & Sukhija, 2008). Maharashtra has witnessed a seven-fold increase in drought events and a six-fold rise in the frequency of flood events in 1970–2020 (Chaterjee, 2021). According to a recent Indian Council of Agricultural Research study, the state also has one of the highest vulnerabilities to extreme weather events (Adhav et al., 2021). In addition, the rising average global temperature increases the rate of evaporation of surface water (TERI, 2014).

The perception of groundwater as a private resource puts farmers into a competitive mode as they abstract it through wells and boreholes (Kale, 2017). However, access to groundwater is unequal across Maharashtra as the land ownership determines it. Only a handful of resource-rich farmers have an adequate resource to tap. The local agronomic and political economy also determines water use to a great extent. For example, just three water-intensive crops – rice, wheat, and sugarcane – consume almost 80% of irrigation water (Shah, 2013). In Maharashtra, sugarcane is on 4% of cropped area but consumes 70% of irrigation water (Parth, 2020).

Rainwater stored in lakes and ponds can be easily seen and the amount of storage can be measured; however, when it comes to groundwater, people have no idea of the quantity available in aquifers, as this is not visible to the naked eye. Thus, the increasing demand for groundwater and its inefficient use have led to its unscientific exploitation. In addition, due to customary laws in India, groundwater is seen to be attached to the land property which results in the farmers' unrestricted exploitation of water below their land and even beyond (Iyer, 2003; Ballabh, 2008).

Hence, the challenge is to mobilise and sensitise the communities to improve the water governance by making the invisible groundwater resource visible. This necessarily involves building institutions and capacities of villagers, and an understanding of the aquifer systems, including basic hydrogeology, groundwater flows, groundwater depth, and sustainable aquifer yields. Therefore, it is vital to investigate groundwater systems and share the knowledge with its users. Without such a shared understanding, it will be difficult, even impossible, to envisage collective management of the groundwater resource. The behavioural change of groundwater water users and their capacity building – in terms of perception of groundwater ownership, water use, and crop management practices – are essential strategies for achieving judicious use of groundwater.

The individual's and community's behaviour regarding their water-use practices is at the centre of this paper. Groundwater management in India has a rich history. Along with numerous policy prescriptions by the government at the national and state levels, various agencies have launched initiatives under the broad framework of Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM). Many civil society organisations have piloted Participatory Groundwater Management (PGWM) and even the management of groundwater at the aquifer level. The government of India has initiated the National Aquifer Management Programme (NAQUIM) and formulated policies to promote groundwater management at the aquifer level. Although these initiatives are well intended and based on the mapping of aquifers, the challenge remains to make villagers more water-literate and demystify the invisible aquifer systems; the goal is behavioural change by building capacity. In the literature, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Social Cognitive Theory, the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD), and the Governance Dynamic Framework (GDF) are widely used frameworks to analyse the behaviour of individuals as well as of the community as a whole.

The Theory of Planned Behaviour explains that an individual's behaviour is dependent on one's intention to perform the behaviour, where the intention is determined by an individual's attitude (beliefs and values about the outcome of the behaviour) and subjective norms (beliefs about what other people think the person should do or general social pressure). In this theory, intention is the most crucial variable in predicting behaviour change, suggesting that behaviours are often linked with one's motivation (Sommer & Sigmaringen, 2011). On the other hand, the Social Cognitive Theory proposes that people are driven not by inner forces but by external or environmental factors (Bandura, 1999). Environmental factors represent situational influences and the environment in which behaviour is performed, while personal factors include instincts, drives, traits, and other individual motivational forces. The theory suggests that even when individuals have a strong sense of purpose, they may not perform the behaviour without incentive. The IAD framework developed by Ostrom (2011) helps understand how actors/stakeholders act in particular action situations and how the various rules and norms shape their interactions, behaviours, and dynamics. This framework has been tested and applied in a range of conditions to systematically analyse the structure of situations faced by individuals and determine how rules and attributes of the surrounding environment and local community affect these situations over time (Smajgl et al., 2009). While this theory acknowledges that individuals may act rationally in simple situations, it posits that in complex circumstances, e.g. in common-pool resource management such as with groundwater, individuals lack complete knowledge and means to act in an economically rational manner (Polski & Ostrom, 1999).

The GDF developed by Subodh Wagle attempts to present a scheme of interactions between actors' behaviours and the relevant public policies and development interventions. The framework is based on the premise that the agencies' policies or programmes are meant to influence various actors involved in a societal issue to align with the policy or programme objectives. However, in practice, these actors behave according to their thinking and expectations and respond to the actual or expected behaviour of the other actors. Thus, such a situation creates misalignment in expected behaviour (in policies and laws) and behaviour in the practice of actors. The model explains that this mainly happens because the actors are not fully prepared to take appropriate actions. These key preparedness elements of the actor are awareness, vision, willingness, and abilities. The preparedness elements are partly influenced by some innate factors related to the actors while partly influenced by existing policies, agencies, and programmes (Kale & D'Souza, 2019).

The analysis of the above models and frameworks allowed WOTR to develop a Theory of Change for its WSI. It was found that after years of development interventions in the water sector by government agencies and NGOs, water security and governance have not yet improved to an expected level. Maharashtra has a long history of watershed development work with watershed development programmes, which increased water availability in the villages, resulting in an increase in irrigation, agricultural output, and economic prosperity. However, as surface water got fully used this growth could not be sustained triggering a race among farmers for extracting groundwater, resulting in water scarcity and in more crop failure (Kale & D'Souza, 2018). WOTR concluded, after situational analysis and interviews, that multiple factors are responsible for this. The strong focus on the harvesting of water combined with little attention to building villagers' capabilities to sustainably manage the harvested water was identified as the key factor; market incentives and climatic factors strongly contributed to the worsening of the situation. The Theory of Change proposes that, for changing the actors' behaviour, the following are required conditions: (a) adequate and scientific information and knowledge, (b) sense of ownership, (c) skills and confidence, (d) incentives, (e) convening of all relevant stakeholders to build a constructive dialogue, and (f) subjective norms, such as social pressure through the Gram Sabha (local council) (D'Souza et al., 2019).

This paper reports on a central element in the effort to equip rural communities and farmers with knowledge, skills, and the means to address these challenges. The paper is based on data and experiences from 100 villages in Maharashtra where the WSI is implemented by WOTR, a premier organisation working in India in the field of water management and sustainable land management practices. The WSI aims to facilitate a cognitive and organisational shift by bringing science, governance, and policy together at the level of practice and community action. The approach adopted in the WSI is of ‘co-production of knowledge and learning for behavioural and institutional change’ towards building community knowledge and enhancing capacities to deal more effectively with local water-use practices and varying weather conditions. This paper discusses WSI impacts and presents the data, information, and learning experience with the application of a dedicated tool, the Community-Driven Visual Integrator (CDVI), designed to develop an understanding of the collective nature of the groundwater resource and achieve more consensus in the communities for the sustainable use of aquifers.

This section presents first the methodology adopted for assessing the impacts of the WSI and CDVI, and data sources. Second, the methods are described for preparing the CDVI models.

The WSI was implemented in 100 villages in Maharashtra from 2015 to 2018. During this period, several stakeholder engagement events were conducted leading to water supply and demand-side interventions, institutional strengthening, and capacity building. The CDVI tool was applied in 25 villages that were especially groundwater-stressed, out of the 100 villages, along with the overall WSI activities, with the aim to enhance groundwater literacy and mobilise communities for aquifer management. At the formal closure, the project was evaluated to assess the impacts and lessons learnt. The paper utilises these data but also builds on the field observations of the authors during the implementation and evaluation.

The CDVI tool (see below) allows us to develop 3D maps with the involvement of communities so that their knowledge on the local natural resources can be integrated, mainly concerning the local hydrogeology. This scientific tool is designed to allow consideration of the different attributes of an individual's behaviour and how these attributes can be addressed to enable these actors to take appropriate actions towards more effective water management. Thus, the tool clarifies and simplifies the sub-surface characteristics of groundwater-using communities so that they can understand its complex nature. This understanding and the identified concerns are further combined to create the basis for bringing the community together to discuss and agree on the collective management of aquifers. Thus, the process consists of, first, the preparation of CDVI models of the aquifer together with communities, followed by a detailed stakeholder engagement through a series of workshops to mobilise them.

The surface and sub-surface models are prepared by applying the CDVI tool (Chemburkar & Kale, 2021). Managing groundwater effectively requires a comprehensive and consistent database and adequate knowledge of the aquifers and other relevant aspects. To develop the groundwater potential map and aquifer specifications, surveys using different tools and observations are conducted, including the application of RS-GIS, satellite-based image analysis, geological mapping, well inventory survey, and geophysical survey. Geological data collection and mapping are the primary components in delineating the aquifer. The information derived from geological mapping marks the formations with potential sub-surface storage, surficial features, and cross-cutting structures. The survey is conducted by applying the Schlumberger array of Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) method to gain a detailed understanding of geophysical aspects. Later the data is interpreted using IGIS inverse slope software. This graph gives the thickness and resistivity of different geo-electric layers within the sub-surface. The detailed well inventory of selected wells helps to understand the local geology and groundwater yield in the selected geography. The groundwater potential map is obtained by synthesising the data and information generated by applying the above tools.

Watershed development has proven instrumental in convening people to manage their degraded landscapes. However, while water is harvested on the surface and from the aquifers, the shallow and deep aquifers generally do not follow the watershed boundaries. Since groundwater plays a major role in the livelihoods of rural households, it is essential to bring people together who share an aquifer for its appropriate management. Current Indian policies and laws also strongly advocate the management of the groundwater at the level of aquifers rather than village or watershed boundaries. For example, section 29.1 of the Maharashtra Groundwater Act 2009 states that ‘The State authority shall constitute a Watershed Water Resources Committee (WWRC) in the notified areas comprising of an area of more than 11 villages, which share a common aquifer.’ The WWRC is to comprise representatives of the participating villages, in addition to various experts at the taluka level, who have to collectively manage the aquifer sustainably and judiciously. Section 9.9 emphasises that mass awareness and training are essential for the WWRC members as well as for all stakeholders. A pilot on aquifer management was set up under the WSI along these lines in the Jalna district, Marathwada region. Applying the CDVI tool, an aquifer was identified and delineated which is shared by 14 villages in the Bhokardan block. This aquifer is known as the ‘Malegaon aquifer’ as it is the central village in the aquifer which is shared with the surrounding 13 villages. The main objectives behind the Malegaon pilot were generating awareness, sensitising and mobilising the villagers, building a cadre of ‘Water Stewards’ (Jal Sevaks, trained village youths) who understand their responsibility of managing the aquifer sustainably, and motivating the villagers to adopt self-regulation to take appropriate management measures. As an output of this process, Village Water Management Teams (VWMT) were formed in 14 villages, and Jal Sevaks facilitated VWMTs for planning and execution of water management practices. These 14 VWMTs were federated in the Aquifer Management Committee (AMC). Each Gram Panchayat (local government executive) nominated two members from its VWMT to the AMC.

Once the AMC was formed, a CDVI model was prepared for surface and sub-surface with the involvement of key villagers. Thereafter, AMC members took these models to each of the villages and presented them in village Gram Sabhas and village meetings. The Malegaon AMC eventually counted 15 members, one representative from each village, and the Jal Sevak on this committee. A critical indication that the Malegaon AMC is committed is that they have registered the AMC under the 1860 Societies Registration Act by contributions from members to pay the registration fees and for covering daily expenses.

The presentation of the maps to the 14 villages generated ample discussion as well as consensus on many points (Figure 1). Participants understood well that they all draw groundwater from the same aquifer, and thus need to prioritise more efficient groundwater use. Eight stakeholder engagement workshops were held with the AMC to develop their capacity for aquifer management. Although oftentimes challenging, participants recognised the precious value of the groundwater resource and agreed to take action to avoid further depletion. This led to (a) plans to harvest water to recharge their aquifer (a few structures have been constructed to address this), (b) demand management through appropriate crop planning, (c) water-saving by micro-irrigation, and (d) the formulation of village-level rules for water use and crop selection.

These events brought various stakeholders together for the first time. They helped participants to talk about their resources and needs and guided them to develop an objective understanding of their biophysical reality. It helped them become aware of issues related to their water resources, the availability and use of water, current agricultural practices, and how their decisions and current water-use patterns affect themselves, others, and future generations. Water stewards of different regions also reported that discussions and information received during the stakeholder engagement workshops have led to a new and deeper understanding of their water resources. The villagers reported that the stakeholder engagement workshops provided them with an opportunity to deliberate and discuss ‘water’ as a ‘shared problem’, leaving aside all other differences and dynamics of the village. They learned how to calculate the water budget and decide how to use water efficiently by taking collective actions. Notably, AMC members also highlighted the challenges they are facing in convincing the large irrigating farmers, mainly orchard owners, to follow the village water budgets and aquifer management plan. The orchard and cash crop cultivating farmers believe that for more income, they have to grow these crops as a conducive market exists. Thus, although the AMC is making progress in ensuring the efficient and sustainable use of aquifers, external forces such as a good market for water-intensive cash crops, changing rainfall patterns, and the behaviour of a few opportunist farmers remain important challenges. AMC members also shared that the strategy of social pressure by making rules in the Gram Sabha helped control opportunist farmers. Still, they also highlighted the need for effective regulation on water users by law and the district and block-level administration.

With the CDVI tool, CDVI models were prepared in 25 groundwater-stressed villages of the Ahmednagar and Jalna districts with the engagement of a team of key village informants representing older knowledgeable people, women, members of the Gram Panchayat, and other village institutions, adults, and youths. The joint CDVI model preparation proved an insightful journey for many. After preparing the model, many villagers reported that they could now visualise their entire village's topography as well as sub-surface aquifers, which they had never seen in a 3D format before. One of the participants from the Sangamner block stated ‘I never thought that I could see our groundwater resource. The stakeholder engagement event made us realise that we pull out groundwater from the same aquifer. It is a common resource and therefore, important to manage together.’ A Sarpanch (village head) from one of the villages from the Bhokardan block said ‘attending the workshop enhanced our knowledge regarding the different rock types that are available in our village. It made us realise that if we do not manage water sustainably now, the coming generation will suffer. At the same time, women must be involved in these efforts as they face water problems in everyday life.’

As discussed earlier, the CDVI is one of WSI's central tools. Although the WSI effort has encountered difficulties and challenges (such as bringing irrigating farmers to the consensus and ensuring that they reduce their groundwater consumption by changing crops), villagers have progressed by coming together and initiating the change. Of the 100 villages where WSI work was carried out in Maharashtra, the performance of 46 villages eventually was considered satisfactory, 35 were moderately satisfactory, and 18 villages have underperformed (D'Souza et al., 2019). The performance of these villages is assessed based on the following performance indicators: (a) the quality of water budgeting processes followed, (b) the rules agreed upon regarding crop practices and water use, and the supply and demand side of water management, and (c) the level of functioning of VWMT in these villages. Most members of VWMTs in these villages confirmed awareness of the causal relationship between the water crisis facing them and their own water usage and management practices. In all the villages, communities have drawn up water stewardship action plans (such as water budgeting and its follow-up in terms of supply and demand-side management), and 75 villages have submitted these plans to the government authorities to seek the convergence of different government schemes and programmes. Information about their villages' poor water status and the water demand encouraged the VWMTs and the Gram Panchayats to frame village-specific rules as guidance. These rules are discussed and then endorsed by the Gram Sabha. Seventy-eight villages formulated rules, such as a ban on drilling new boreholes, limits on the depth of boreholes, and other such rules as acceptable to them. The process of stakeholder engagement through the capacity-building workshops of the VWMTs was found highly effective to achieve these impacts.

Behavioural changes at home and in the fields were observed in many villagers. Around two thousand farmers were found to have adopted water-efficient technologies (such as micro-irrigation and mulching), and the adoption of better farming techniques has increased across all villages. Moreover, additional water harvesting capacity in all the villages has increased by about 9 billion litres through community contributions and governmental action. The VWMTs and Jal Sevaks played an important role in sensitising people and organising them to undertake the necessary actions at the village level. The stakeholder engagement events provided a platform for village representatives, experts, service providers, and government agencies. On the part of the government functionaries, the events helped them appreciate the underlying causes of the local water crisis and led to a significant buy-in which resulted in support to the committed measures in these villages. Equally important, it helped enhance the knowledge, skills, and confidence of villagers and the Jal Sevaks in their ability to address the challenges they face and in accessing publicly financed benefits and entitlements. Thus, the WSI has provided valuable lessons in understanding the complex relationships and compulsions that influence behaviours that determine water access and use at the ground level.

It remains a challenge, however, to sustain the motivation of Jal Sevaks and VWMTs after the withdrawal of WOTR from villages. For this, a mixed response arose in around 50 villages, where Jal Sevaks and VWMTs are preparing the water budget and its follow-up measures. Therefore, WOTR remained in touch with these villagers to at least keep encouraging them to continue their good work. Secondly, limitations were found also in achieving the equity goal as it proved challenging to gain the cooperation of the large and irrigating farmers for changing their practices; however, the social pressure through the Gram Sabhas has been able to address this albeit in a limited manner.

The WSI effectively applied VWMTs to mobilise villagers for measures such as water budgeting and plans for water-saving and harvesting more water. In the villages where the CDVI tool was introduced, participants were encouraged to actively participate in preparing the model. The CDVI models helped villagers to understand their groundwater resources and agree upon and scale up good practices in the sustainable use of groundwater management, thus changing their perceptions and behaviours on groundwater, resulting in systematic improvement in the groundwater governance at the local level. Importantly, the stakeholder engagement process helped participants to recognise that their local groundwater system is a finite resource and that individual efforts alone cannot solve their groundwater problem. Thus, villagers are given a platform and tool to agree on decisions for using groundwater more efficiently through collective efforts, including tools like water budgeting, setting rules and regulations within the village, and land management measures. One of the positive outcomes is that women's participation over the years has increased in the WSI; however, these efforts have to be continued to ensure that women's participation can be sustained and institutionalised.

The implementation experience of the WSI highlighted the need for an enabling policy and institutional framework that can facilitate and incentivise community and other stakeholders' participation. However, to achieve sustained impact, particularly given that external factors keep changing, guidance and monitoring support to the community are required from time to time and for years beyond the duration of the initiative implementation period. Perception and behaviour change is a long-term process, and the capacity-building efforts thus need to be planned and funded accordingly. Therefore, these efforts must be accompanied by sustained and large-scale, multi-format sensitisation campaigns, capacity building and skill up-grading of water users, governance strengthening measures, and the constitution of developmental and regulatory agencies. The establishment of a mechanism that enforces related policies and regulations for the common good in a transparent, fair, and consistent manner is necessary if the culture and practice of ‘water stewardship’ is to become engrained in village life. The Maharashtra Groundwater Act of 2009 is a first step in this direction, but needs to be implemented effectively. Other states in the country will eventually have to legislate and enforce similar policies to secure social stability, economic growth, and environmental integrity. The application of WSI and CDVI tools has substantial potential to influence the behaviour of groundwater-using communities and help achieve the goals set by existing policies and programmes such as the Maharashtra Groundwater Act of 2009, the National Project on Aquifer Management (NAQUIM), the Atal Bhujal Yojana, the SDG-6 (‘Clean water and sanitation for all’), and international commitments for climate adaptation.

The study suggests that generating knowledge and information jointly with people, and making scientific information accessible to people through stakeholder engagement, have great potential. In addition, it helps develop social capital in terms of trust and social pressure through the Gram Sabhas which can help to influence the behaviour of water users. However, the need exists to simultaneously address the external forces such as the market incentives for water-intensive crops and the effective implementation of water-related laws and policies through effective regulation on the ground.

This paper is developed based on lessons learned while implementing the WSI. We are thankful to our colleagues at WOTR and W-CReS, Ankita Yadav, Prashant Kalasakar, Arun Dahale, Santosh Chaudhari, Mahesh Shelake, Abhijeet Kavathekar, and Anil Hiwale, for their valuable support in organising the various stakeholder engagement workshops and motivating the villagers to actively participate in groundwater management.

All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.