Groundwater Management by Communities

1
Groundwater Management by Communities

• Convener
• K. A. S. Mani

2
Whos water is it?

• Commodification
• Private vs. Public
• Big Farmers vs. Small Farmers
• Moral vs. Legal

3
Water use efficiency

• Cropping pattern
• Crop water budgeting
• Need for water balance study
• Lack of research on crop-water relationships
  based on local agro-ecology
• Agriculture largest water user but necessary
  due to livelihood support for 80 people
• also wastage in other sectors

4
Community water management

• Apfamgs Tarun Bharat Sangh
• Training education
• Learning by farmers- FFS
• Motivation- incentivization
• Cost-compliance
• Ecosystem services hill areas water
  conservation benefits
• Communitization vs privatization
• Community participation- women

5
innovation

• Farmers wisdom and capacity
• Farmers involvement
• SRI
• Local technology and approaches
• Demystifying technology
• Enormous value in traditional approaches
• Discipline- code of conduct
• Crop diversification

6
policy

• Stress on old systems i.e. open well
• Role of PRI
• Ownership, management, pricing
• Equity entitlement
• Not water alone but comprehensive
• Small farmers their interests i.e. minor
  millets in MSP Procurement PDS
• Political game
• Making people as pressure group

7
Way Forward

• Promote the concept of APFAMGS
• Document the success elements
• Replicate in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu
• Ground water model bill