Social Regulation of Groundwater and its Relevance in Existing Regulatory Framework in Andhra Pradesh, India

Transcription

1 Social Regulation of Groundwater and its Relevance in Existing Regulatory Framework in Andhra Pradesh, India R.V. RAMA MOHAN Project Coordinator, Centre for World Solidarity (CWS), Secunderabad, India ABSTRACT: Exponential growth of tube wells over last decade and uncontrolled extraction of groundwater has resulted in rapid decline of the groundwater levels in Andhra Pradesh, India. Repeated failure of bore wells has caused serious economic loss to the farmers. Andhra Pradesh Water Land and Trees Act ( APWALTA), enacted in 2002, failed to check the growth of wells in the state over last 4 years. The free power policy in the state contributed to further exploitation of groundwater. APWALTA proved itself to be a disabling law, approaching the problem through controls and penalties. A grass-root project in three villages promoted sharing of groundwater among farmers and saving of groundwater using micro-irrigation. Social Regulations (such as, not to drill new wells) brought change in the mind-set of farmers to cooperate rather than to compete for groundwater. The paper recommends a blend of two approaches to make APWALTA an enabling and constructive policy. 1. INTRODUCTION Groundwater has emerged as a vital resource for irrigation in Andhra Pradesh, especially in the semiarid regions like Telangana and Rayalaseema (see Figure 2). Low and erratic rainfall, coupled with recurring drought conditions prompted farmers to shift to groundwater irrigation from rainfed farming. Reliability of groundwater sources and spread of tube well technologies triggered rapid growth of tube wells (also known as bore wells) in Andhra Pradesh over the last 15 years. But, indiscriminate drilling of wells and over-extraction of groundwater has adversely affected the groundwater resources in the state. Declining groundwater levels in many areas resulted in drying of existing open and shallow tube wells. Failure of wells at the time of drilling is another cause of loss of investments and debt burden on farmers which in turn adversely affects their livelihoods. Andhra Pradesh Water Land and Trees Act (APWALTA) was enacted in 2002 to check the growth of wells and groundwater extraction in the state. The Act was further improved in 2004 and 2005 by introducing features such as insurance scheme for failed wells and single window system for permissions to drill new wells. While APWALTA has been a top-down legislation that regulates the groundwater use in the state, there are few grass-root interventions in Andhra Pradesh that attempts to empower communities in water management and promotes local governance of groundwater (van Steenbergen, 2006). This paper analyses the performance of APWALTA over last 4 years (2002 to 2006) based on the data available from secondary sources. The paper also narrates the grass-root project on social regulation of groundwater being implemented in three villages within the regions of Rayalaseema and Telangana by Centre for World Solidarity (CWS) a NGO located in Andhra Pradesh. In doing so, it presents a detailed analysis of processes and achievements in one of the project villages, namely Madirepally in Anantapur district. This paper concludes by giving recommendations on blending the grass-root experiences in social regulation of groundwater with the policy framework in Andhra Pradesh for effective groundwater management in the state. 2. GROUNDWATER IRRIGATION IN INDIA AND ANDHRA PRADESH Groundwater has been recognized as an important water source of irrigation since ancient times in India. Shallow open wells were dug and initially manual lifting devices were used to extract water. Large numbers of open wells were used as supplemental source of irrigation in semi-arid regions of the country.

2 With the advent of tube wells and pumping technologies during the 1980s, extraction of deeper groundwater began. More and more farmers preferred irrigation from groundwater due to its reliability and control on the resource. Availability of institutional and non-institutional credit also made these technologies easily available to farmers. The area irrigated under surface water sources (such as canals and tanks) has either remained stagnant or even declined, while are under wells and tubewells has increased steadily since 1951 (Figure 1) Area irrigated (ha) Years Canals Wells and tubewells Tanks and other sources Figure 1. Growth in area under different sources of irrigation, Source: Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, India (several years) ( downloaded on 20 th January 2007 Major Features of Andhra Pradesh Total geographical area: 275,000 sq.km Administrative division: 23 districts and 1123 mandals Total population: millions (2001) Urban population: % and Rural population: % Net area sown: 9.85 m ha and net area irrigated: 4.10 m ha ( ) Average annual rainfall: 925 mm, variation in rainfall: 495 to 1200 mm Major crops: Paddy, Groundnut, Tobacco, Sugarcane, Cotton Figure 2. Location map and major features of Andhra Pradesh Per capita GDP: Rs. 18,444 (US 410 $)

3 Sources: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture., Government of India ( ), downloaded on 23 rd January 2007, Census of India (2001), downloaded on 23 rd January 2007 Table 1. Number of wells in Andhra Pradesh and India during (Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, 2001) Number of wells ( ) (in thousands) Type of well Andhra Pradesh Wells in AP as % (AP) India of wells in India Dug Wells Shallow Tube Wells (Less than 70 m deep) Deep Tube Wells (More than 70 m deep) Total , In line with the national trends, Andhra Pradesh (Fig ure 2) also witnessed growth of groundwater extraction structures and area under groundwater irrigation. Table 1 gives number of different types of wells in Andhra Pradesh and India. In Andhra Pradesh, between and , the number of total wells increased by 58.4 % with an average increase of 101,000 wells per year (Table 2). During this period, net area irrigated from groundwater increased by 9.0 % with a corresponding reduction of 10% under surface water sources (Figure 3). Table 2. Number of and increase of total wells in Andhra Pradesh between and (Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, 2001) Type of well Average % increase in Up to Up to increase of number of (in thousands) (in thousands) wells per year wells (in thousands) Dug wells Shallow tube wells (Less than 70 m deep) Deep tube wells (More than 70 m deep) Total

4 Figure 3. Net area irrigated in Andhra Pradesh during and (Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, 2001) Shallow and deep tube wells played a major role in this growth of irrigation from groundwater as revealed by Table 2. This trend continued after 2001 and the number of agricultural electricity connections was reported to be 2.37 millions as of 31 st March 2005 and the same increased to 2.44 millions as of 31 March 2006, with an increase of 66,500 wells over one year (APTRANSCO, 2006). This exponential growth of bore wells and unregulated exploitation of groundwater resulted in decline of groundwater levels to alarming levels in several pockets of Andhra Pradesh and an increasing number of dug wells dried up. Groundwater Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh classified 187 micro basins as over-exploited (groundwater development defined as groundwater extraction as percentage of net renewable recharge > 100%); 82 micro basins in critical condition (groundwater development > 90%); and another 203 micro basins as semi-critical (groundwater development > 70%) out of the total 1229 micro basins in Andhra Pradesh as shown in Figure 3 (Groundwater Department, GoAP, 2006). This classification was based on the groundwater levels recorded from selected observation wells, and the pumping intensities and cropping patterns in each micro basin. Average decline of groundwater level over the period was reported to be 2 m in Andhra Pradesh (Department of Disaster Management, GoAP, 2003). 15% Over-exploited 7% Critical 61% 17% Semi-critical Safe Figure 3. Status of groundwater resources in various micro-basins in Andhra Pradesh during (Groundwater Department, GoAP, 2006) Drilling of multiple bore wells by individual farmers due to repeated failures is a common phenomenon in the interior drought-prone Rayalaseema and Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh (refer Figure 2 for locating these regions). Indiscriminate sinking of bore wells and repeated failures has been one of the reasons for the debt burden and resultant suicides of farmers in Andhra Pradesh in recent years. As an example, a farmer like A. Prabhakar Reddy of Chiyyedu village in Anantapur rural Mandal, a chronic drought-prone area with a relatively low average annual rainfall of 495 mm, had sunk about 100 bore wells over the last 10 years (The Hindu, 2004). In Anantapur district, the number of agricultural bore wells increased from 93,000 in year 2003 to 136,030 in year 2005, an increase of 46% in just two years (Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2005). 3. POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IN ANDHRA PRADESH Repeated droughts and alarming depletion in groundwater resources during the late 1990s prompted the AP State Government to lay emphasis on efficient water conservation and management. The last decade has witnessed promulgation of various acts and guidelines related to water management. One such measure is the enactment called Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Act (APWALTA) in

5 2002. This Act repealed earlier legislations such as Andhra Pradesh Ground Water Act (Regulation for drinking water purposes), 1996 and Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Tree Ordinance, no.15 of Table 3 gives the chronology of events in water-related policy evolution in Andhra Pradesh. Table 3. Key events in water policy evolution in Andhra Pradesh Enactment of Andhra Pradesh Ground Water Act (Regulation for drinking water 1996 purposes) Enactment of Andhra Pradesh Farmers Management of Irrigation Systems Act to 1997 promote participatory management of irrigation systems in the state Spelt out Vision 2020, emphasizing the importance of water management and 1999 participatory approaches to irrigation management for sustainable growth in the agriculture and fisheries sectors 2000 Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Tree Ordinance (no.15) 2002 Enactment of Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Act (APWALTA) Release of Guidelines for Watershed Development in Andhra Pradesh based on the 2002 national guidelines (1994) and recommendations of the reviews done time to time during later years 2003 Andhra Pradesh Water Vision defining a broad policy framework for water management in the state The APWALTA, enacted on 19 th April, 2002 by Act no.10, is a comprehensive act covering surface and groundwater resources. The act aims to promote water conservation, enhance tree cover, and regulate the exploitation and use of ground and surface water. The act empowered the State Government to appoint a state level authority, namely, Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Authority. The Authority has the mandate to promote water conservation, enhance tree cover, regulate exploitation of ground and surface water, make regulations for the functioning of the authorities at District and Mandal level (administrative units within Districts), and advice the Government on various legislative, administrative and economic measures and for the strengthening of public participation. Various provisions under the Act are broadly categorized under the following four headlines (Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2002 & 2004): Groundwater protection measures Surface water protection measures Trees Miscellaneous, including penalties Provisions related to groundwater listed under Groundwater protection measures are quoted below: All groundwater resources in the State shall be regulated by the Authority Owners of all wells and water bodies shall register their wells / water bodies with the Authority Prohibition of water pumping in any particular area in the State Prohibition of and penalty for drilling new bore wells in any particular area in the State Any person shall obtain permission for drilling a new bore well (other than drinking purposes) within 250 m of a public drinking water source Declaration of over-exploited areas and ban on sinking new wells in these areas (other than drinking purpose). Periodic review of status and provision to revoke the declaration

6 Protection of drinking water sources by prohibiting extraction of groundwater from existing wells in the vicinity that are adversely affecting the drinking water source. Compensation to the owner for closure of existing well Prohibition of water extraction for sale from an over-exploited water source or aquifer or residential areas or premises of multi-storied buildings in urban areas Specification of well spacing and depth for sinking new wells to curb unhealthy competition to tap water from deeper layers of groundwater Registration of drilling rigs by rig owners Issue guidelines and impose conditions for rainwater harvesting measures in residential, commercial and other premises and open spaces to improve groundwater resources Formulate guidelines for recycling and reuse of waste water by industrial, commercial users and local bodies Prohibition of groundwater contamination from any source, including industrial, domestic and aquaculture/agriculture Regulate sand mining to prevent depletion of groundwater and protect public drinking water supply sources Specific rules and procedures were issued time to time through Government Orders on the above broad provisions in the Act. APWALTA rules and procedures were revised comprehensively and a single-window approach was introduced in As per this system, a farmer can submit an application to get a permission to drill a new well to a single office (the Mandal Revenue Office) and the decision would be announced within 15 days. The State Government came up with a notification in February 2005 listing 4003 over-exploited villages (15 %) out of the total 26,586 villages and banned further exploitation of groundwater and sand mining in these villages. Table 4 gives the region-wise classification of these villages in Andhra Pradesh. That implies no new permissions to drill bore wells will be entertained from these villages. It was also stated in the notification that, the status of groundwater exploitation in these villages will be reviewed every six months and necessary modifications done. Table 4. Number of villages notified as over-exploited in Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Water Land and Trees Act 2004 (Amendment), Government of Andhra Pradesh) Sl.No. Region in Andhra Pradesh No. of mandals covered by notified villages No. of notified villages 1 Coastal Rayalaseema Telangana Total The Government of Andhra Pradesh introduced well failure insurance scheme for the bore well owners in March As per this provision, farmers who take permission from the concerned authority and drill a bore well, are eligible to claim the insurance subjected to a maximum limit of Rs.10, 000 in case the well turns out to be dry. Farmers were required to pay Rs.1, 200 towards

7 insurance premium, in addition to the geological survey charges of Rs.1, 000 (Rs.500 for small and marginal farmers) towards the cost of site investigation by a qualified hydro-geologist. From , the Government decided to revise the insurance scheme for failed bore wells through the Commissioner, Rural Development by maintaining a corpus fund instead of being tied up with insurance companies. All those bore wells which were drilled after obtaining necessary permissions under APWALTA are eligible for insurance compensation of Rs.10,000 or actual expenses, whichever is less. In the new system, the farmers need not pay any premium for obtaining the insurance cover (Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2006). In June 2005, the State Government through a notification defined the minimum spacing to be maintained from existing drinking and irrigation wells, while according permission to new wells. Minimum spacing to be maintained in case of shallow tube wells is 260 m from an existing irrigation well and 250 m from an existing drinking water well. As per this rule, a farmer who sought permission for drilling a new well will not be allowed to do so, if its proposed location is within the specified minimum distance. Free power to agricultural pump-sets was introduced by the new State Government during late 2005, to replace the previous tariff system based on the horsepower of the pump. Though free power was supplied to farmers, the Government has been limiting the number of hours of power supply from 9 hours to 6-7 hours a day due to shortage of power, especially during Rabi crop season (the dry season, from November to February). Still the free power scheme was a major trigger for the steep increase in number of energized bore wells (data given in Section 2) and deepened the power crisis during Rabi and summer months of Hence, there is a direct conflict between the policy promoted by the APWLTA and the power supply policy in terms of incentives for the farmers to exploit groundwater. 4. IMPLEMENTATION EXPERIENCE OF APWALTA APWALTA has been in force since Significant changes in the operations of the Act came about in 2004, such as, introduction of single-window system. Later, during 2005, insurance of failed bore wells was another laudable measure to protect the farmers from huge losses. An analysis of progress achieved by APWALTA during in terms of registration of wells, permissions for new wells, coverage of wells under insurance scheme and penalties for illegal drilling of wells is presented in the following sections Registration of existing wells and permissions for new wells Since inception in April 2002 to January 2006, a total of 2.2 million existing wells and 2,178 drilling rigs were registered under the Act. Permission was granted to dig a total of 5,389 new wells till January Table 5 compares this data with the data for the period January 2005 to January 2006, a one year period after the introduction of comprehensive single-window system (Ministry of Rural Development, GoAP, 2006). Table 5: Achievements of APWALTA (Progress Reports on Implementation of APWALTA, Ministry of Rural Development, GoAP, 2006, downloaded on 18th December 2006) Apr Jan 2006 Jan 2005-Jan 2006 Existing wells registered 2.2 million 0.7 million Drilling rigs registered 2, New bore wells given permission 5,389 2,500 The number of wells reported to be drilled legally during (2,500) is much less than the average annual increase of 101,000 in number of wells in Andhra Pradesh during given by the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India (Table 2). In contrast to this, the number of

8 individual agricultural electrical service connections increased by 66,458 during as per the statistics revealed by Andhra Pradesh Transmission Corporation (APTRANSCO), the state-owned company that deals with the electricity transmission in Andhra Pradesh (APTRANSCO, 2006). Comparison of these statistics from different sources gives the indication that the majority of new wells in Andhra Pradesh were drilled without obtaining permission from APWALTA authorities. In other words, APWALTA failed to check the indiscriminate proliferation of new wells in the state Fees and Penalties APWALTA specified the fees for registration of existing wells and application for new wells. The Act also spelled in detail the penalties to be imposed for violating the law, such as, illegal drilling of a bore well. Table 6 gives the details of fees and penalties for different items under APWALTA (Ministry of Rural Development, GoAP, 2006): Table 6. Fees and penalties under APWALTA (Progress Reports on Implementation of APWALTA, Ministry of Rural Development, GoAP, 2006, downloaded on 18th December 2006) Registration of existing wells Rs.10 (US 0.22 $) Permission of drilling new well Rs.100 (US 2.2 $) Registration of drilling rigs (August 2004 onwards) Reduced from Rs.10,000 to 1,000 per year (US 220 $ to 22 $) Failed well insurance premium Illegal drilling of wells (Nov 2005 onwards) Rs.1200 per well (US $) later premium waved off in 2006 Increased from Rs.1,000 to 100,000 (US 22 $ to 2,200 $) Further, following is the data related to the amount of revenue generated through fees and penalties during January 2005-January 2006: Collection of premium under failed bore well insurance scheme: Rs million (US $ 6,160) Revenue generated by means of penalties for illegal drilling of wells (i.e. without permission): Rs million (US $ 5,680) Revenue generated by means of penalties for illegal sand mining: Rs.3.80 million (US $ 76,000) The number of cases of illegal drilling of wells in the period Jan to Jan (corresponding to USD 5,680) is maximum 258, assuming a rate of 22 USD per well. This seems to be very low compared to the total number of well drilling permissions reported given (2,500) and especially the number of total wells reported to be installed (66,500). APWALTA provides for transfer of 90% of the revenue generated from penalties for illegal drilling of wells to the respective gram panchayats (local self-governments at village level) to take up awareness generation activities on the provisions of the Act. But, this aspect could not be studied in detail due to the lack of data. Most recent data on monthly progress of implementation of the Act, during the period May 2006 to October 2006, is given in Table 7 (Ministry of Rural Development, GoAP, 2006).

9 Table 7. Monthly progress of implementation of APWALTA, May to October 2006 (Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh Website 18 th December 2006) Month (Year 2006) Number of wells registered Number of applications sanctioned for new bore wells Number of bore wells reported to be drilled Number of successful bore wells Number of wells reported to be failed No of insurance claims settled Revenue generated in terms of insurance premium from farmers (Rs. millions) May NIL June (US $100) July (US $ 168) August (US $ 420) September NA October NA Total From this table, it can be observed that the sum of successful and failed bore wells (151) does not match with the number of total bore wells reported to be drilled during the period (257). Hence, there is a perceptible gap in keeping track of happenings on the ground after giving sanctions to new bore wells, and presumably the number of failed wells is under-reported. The number of insurance claims for failed wells settled (1), potentially also under-reported similarly indicate that the response of farmers to the insurance scheme was dismally low. Though the scheme was introduced in the interest of farmers, very few of them opted for insurance cover as the charges were felt to be high. Following are the major observations on the APWALTA implementation experience: The Act was successful in registering most existing wells (2. 2 million compared to 2.4 million electrical connections in Jan and Mar. 2006, respectively). However, the disincentive provided by the penalty fees and the inefficient collection rate for drilling of illegal wells did not check the growth in numbers of new wells. APWALTA primarily aims to regulate and control the drilling of new bore wells in already waterstressed areas either by banning new bore wells or by laying out the procedures for obtaining permissions. Data from different sources on average increase of wells in Andhra Pradesh indicate that the illegal drilling of wells was hardly controlled The community has no recognized role in water governance, at local or regional level. People are mainly revenue generators for the state by paying registration charges for bore wells and drilling rigs, permission fees for new wells and penalties for violating the law. Farmers were not informed properly on the new regulations and alternative solutions to curb groundwater use. APWALTA does not promote constructive steps or incentives towards conserving water, or using water more efficiently nor offers any disincentive for unlimited extraction of groundwater. Thus, APWALTA is not an enabling law that provides incentives for not going for a new bore well and encourages farmers to save and use groundwater efficiently.

10 While existing bore well owners continue to exploit groundwater, farmers who do not have bore wells are denied opportunity to access groundwater within a specified distance from the existing drinking and irrigation wells. This Act does not provide constructive measures that help disadvantaged farmers also gain access to their rightful share in groundwater resources and associated livelihood benefits. APWALTA empowers the administration to control, regulate and manage groundwater with extensive and extra-ordinary provisions. One such provision is the power to regulate or limit the extraction from any well that is detrimental to the public interest. But, in implementation, the Act was reduced to a mere instrument that laid out procedures for obtaining permission for drilling new bore wells. Progress reports of authorities only highlight number of sanctions given and revenue generated in terms of fees and penalties. The Act does not propose any reforms in entitlements, such as altering the easement rights; defining entitlements of individual farmers or spell out sensible electricity tariff strategies to control groundwater use There is a perceptible gap in keeping track of happenings on the ground after giving sanctions to new bore wells and systematic reporting of progress achieved. APWALTA provides for transfer of 90% of the revenue generated from penalties for illegal drilling of wells to the respective gram panchayats to take up awareness generation activities on the provisions of the Act. But, this aspect could not be studied in detail as there is no explicit mention about this in any of the reports or data from APWALTA authorities. 5. SOCIAL REGULATION IN GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT An action research project called Social regulation of groundwater management at community level was initiated in 2004 in three villages in Andhra Pradesh by the non-governmental organization Centre for World Solidarity (CWS), Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh. The project covers 665 families in 3 villages in 3 districts of Andhra Pradesh. The project aims to promote local regulation and management of groundwater resources with equitable access to all families in the communities. The project cost was around Rs. 1.2 million (US $ 26,667) per year, over the last 2 years. The three project villages are in the semi-arid regions Rayalaseema and Telangana of Andhra Pradesh with repeated occurrence of drought (Figure 4). In all three villages, rain-fed agriculture is the norm, but groundwater is an important contributor to irrigation on 6-35 % of the land (Table 8). Erratic rainfall and recurring drought conditions prompted farmers to use groundwater, which is more reliable and controllable. Groundwater provided the much needed life-saving irrigation during prolonged dry spells during the rainy season. Initially, open wells were dug and electrical centrifugal pumps were used to extract groundwater. Farmers started drilling bore wells from the early 1990s and shallow open wells gradually dried up due to falling groundwater levels. Over the last 15 years, the number of bore wells grew rapidly in these villages. Due to indiscriminate drilling of bore wells and unscientific groundwater exploration, many bore wells failed either at the time of drilling or during later years. Furthermore, drilling bore wells as deep as 300 ft resulted in drying of shallower open and bore wells. This phenomenon resulted in huge loss of investments to farmers and seriously affected the livelihoods of farmers dependent on irrigated farming.

11 Figure 4. Location of three project villages The following table (Table 8) gives basic demographic and agronomic data and status of water resources in the three project villages.

12 Table 8. Details of project villages (CWS, Primary Survey ) Administrative and Demographic Details Village Madirepally Mylaram CR Pally Gram Panchayat Akuledu Mylaram CR Pally Mandal and District Singanamala, Anantapur China Koduru, Medak Tanakallu, Anantapur Region Rayalaseema Telangana Rayalaseema No. of households Population Land Resource Details (in Acres) Total geographical area Cultivable area Irrigated land in Kharif a From surface water 90 (13.1%) 116 (4.7%) 120 (7.1%) From bore wells 245 (35.7%) 156 (6.4%) 125 (7.4%) Purely rain-fed 352 (51.2%) 2174 (88.9%) 1435 (85.4%) Water Resource Status: Average rainfall 495 mm 750 mm 545 mm Surface water harvesting structures (tanks and ponds) Small check dams Groundwater Extraction Structures: Open wells 57 (0) 135 (0) 60 (06) (functional during Kharif 2006) Bore wells 137 (65) 115 (60) 60 (34) (functional during Kharif 2006) Drinking water bore wells Bore wells with hand pumps for domestic use Crops Crops grown a Wet season, from June-Oct Paddy, Ground Nut, Sweet lime, Maize, Vegetables Ground Nut, Paddy, Cotton, Maize, Chilli Ground Nut, Paddy, Sunflower, Vegetables, Millets, Mulberry The project interventions began with a participatory assessment of the water resources status in the three villages. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods were used to map the resource status and existing water utilization pattern for different purposes, such as: drinking, domestic, irrigation. Growth of groundwater-based irrigation and trends in groundwater levels over a period of time were thoroughly discussed and analysed in community level meetings, wherein women and men from all households participated. Series of such meetings and interactions helped to arrive at the crux of the issues, i.e., frequent failure of bore wells and increasing debts of farmers due to investment on new bore wells. The competition between neighbouring farmers often leads them to drill bore wells as close as 2 m apart. For instance, in Madirepally village, three neighbouring farmers dug 13 bore wells in an area of 0.5 acres over a period of four years in competition to tap groundwater (Figure 5a). The project realized that there is need for changing the mind-set of farmers from competition to cooperation and to increase the water literacy among the farmers for efficient use of water.

13 Figure 5a. Bore wells drilled in competition (before the project intervention) Figure 5b. Neighbouring farmers sharing water (after the project intervention) A number of training programs, exposure visits and awareness raising meetings were organized by CWS in the project villages. Further public awareness and education was carried out through posters, pamphlets and wall-writings. Participatory hydrological monitoring of rainfall and groundwater levels in selected bore wells was done regularly and shared and discussed at village meetings to increase the understanding of farmers on the behaviour of groundwater in relation to rainfall. A volunteer from the community measured rainfall from a simple manual rain gauge station installed in the village and recorded the static water levels in 10 sample bore wells using an electronic water level indicator. This data was displayed on a village notice board and updated periodically. The last 2 ½ years of intensive grass-root work and facilitation has resulted in the community realizing the ill-effects of indiscriminate drilling of bore wells and use of groundwater. The community evolved and agreed on the following social regulations and interventions in the village: No new bore wells to be drilled in the village Equitable access to groundwater to all the families through well sharing Increasing the groundwater resources by conservation and recharge Efficient use of irrigation water through demand-side management Small groups of farmers were formed in all the project villages between a bore well owner and 2 or 3 neighbouring farmers who did not own bore wells. Bore well owners were motivated to share by explaining that drilling new wells in the vicinity of their wells may render them dry due to competitive extraction of groundwater. Instead, sharing a portion of water from his well helps his neighbours and at the same time secures his access to water and thus livelihood. Sharing water with their neighbours will be a win-win situation benefiting both the bore well owners and water receivers. Small farmers were given priority in formation of groups. Table 9 gives the number of such sharing groups in each village. Group members were encouraged to save water by using micro-irrigation kits (sprinklers) and share water from the existing wells rather than drilling new bore wells in the vicinity of existing ones. Surface water harvesting and retaining structures were renovated, and existing dry open wells were converted into recharge wells. Regular monitoring and recording of hydrological information, such as rainfall, water levels in 10 sample wells and water storage in all surface water bodies was done since Groundwater draft (also called extraction) for different purposes, such as irrigation, drinking and domestic was calculated based on the data collected from the villages. Groundwater draft as a percentage of net available groundwater (the latter equivalent to recharge to groundwater) was calculated on a yearly basis from (details of method given in Section 6.3). Table 10 gives the status of relative groundwater draft in these villages during the three years While recharge to groundwater increased from to due to better rainfall conditions and water harvesting measures, farmers also reduced extraction using micro irrigation kits

14 and shifting to water saving crops. This resulted in the reduction of relative groundwater draft from to The relative groundwater draft further reduced in in all the villages. In Madirepally, in spite of relatively low annual rainfall (297 mm) during the year, the relative draft also reduced here due to the increase in micro irrigation kits and shifting to water saving crops. Table 9. Water sharing groups in the three project villages as of 1 st March 2007 (CWS, Primary Survey) Madirepally Mylaram CR Pally No. of functional bore wells No. of bore wells under sharing system No. of sharing farmers a Cultivated area under shared water system in Kharif 2006 (acres) Percentage of area under shared water system to total cultivable area a Includes the well owners Table 10. Relative groundwater draft in the three project villages (Source : CWS, Primary Survey ) Sl. No. Village Extraction as a % of recharge Madirepally Mylaram CR Pally While creating access to groundwater to 86 farmers who did not own bore wells, the project was successful in reducing the groundwater extraction in the project villages. The project aimed at bringing all functional bore wells in the three villages under the water sharing system by DETAILED STUDY IN MADIREPALLY VILLAGE Madirepally, a small village in Singanamala mandal of Anantapur district, is one of the project villages where significant progress has been achieved in terms of the community managing their groundwater resources. Groundwater use is more prominent in this village, as 35.7% of the cultivable area is irrigated from groundwater. Rainfall is very low and highly erratic. Crop failures due to prolonged dry spells are a regular phenomenon in this area. Farmers in the village lost huge investments due to failures of wells at the time of drilling. The following analysis reveals the activities implemented and the extent of the achievement of the above-mentioned social regulations evolved at community level in Madirepally village. Detailed analysis of project achievements in other two villages could not be done due to constraints on time and availability of data Status of groundwater structures and their functioning Out of 687 acres of total cultivable area in the village, 352 acres was cultivated under rain-fed condition during the year Bore wells are the major source of supplemental irrigation in around 245 acres of land. Remaining 90 acres was cultivated using water from a seepage canal, a system traditionally called Gonchi (Table 8). Table 11 gives data of different groundwater structures existing in the village in 2006 and their functional status:

15 Table 11. Status of different existing groundwater structures in Madirepally (CWS, Primary Survey) Sl.No. Type of structure Purpose Functional Total number structures of structures (Kharif 2006) 1 Open well Irrigation 57 4 (7 %) 2 Bore well Irrigation (47 %) 3 Bore well Drinking Water 2 2 (100 %) 4 Bore well with hand-pump Drinking and Domestic Use 3 3 (100%) The table reveals that practically all open wells once used for irrigation have gone dry due to depletion of groundwater. Fifty-three percent of the irrigation bore wells are abandoned as they also have dried up. Drinking water wells have not been impacted as they are deep bore wells and located far from irrigation wells. Efforts were done to ensure safe coverage of drinking water needs for all inhabitants and livestock of the village. Historical data on growth of wells in the village is not available due to lack of previous studies or secondary data sources. Data related to the number of irrigation wells over the period reveal that, the total number of bore wells remained constant (Table 12). This can be attributed to the social regulation impelling that no new bore well be drilled in the village. The number of functional bore wells increased by 16 % partly due to the recharge and conservation measures taken up in the village during the project period and partly due to the better rainfall conditions during In spite of the failure of the monsoon during (297 mm rainfall compared to long-term average rainfall of 475 mm), further continuation of this trend is observed indicating an effective demand-side management (Table 12). Table 12. Status of bore wells and open wells during in Madirepally (CWS, Primary Survey) Year Rainfall Total open (June-May) (mm) bore wells wells wells * Functional during Kharif (wet) crop season (June-Oct) 6.2. Access to groundwater Total irrigation Functional irrigation bore Functional open wells* Though every household in the village invested on bore well over the last decade, out of the total 166 households, only 65 households own functional bore wells, 72 being non-functional. Most of the remaining 29 families lost their investment due to failure of wells at the time of drilling. Therefore, access to groundwater was limited to the successful families while others kept cultivating only rain-fed crops. In order to create access for other farmers and to address the equity issues, farmers were encouraged to form neighbourhood groups. Each group consisted of 2 or 3 farmers, one of them being a bore well owning farmer. The bore well owning farmer would share groundwater with other group members as per a written understanding developed in mutual consent within the group. The group of farmers plan crops in consultation with each other and take water from the well in rotation to irrigate agreed extent of land. There is a shift in cropping pattern from water-intensive crop like paddy to water-saving crops, such as groundnut and chilli among the group members. Section presents data collected on cropping pattern from all wells in the village. Table 13 depicts the progressive increase in the number of groups under the sharing system from 2004 to In , 50 % of the functioning wells were under the sharing system.

16 Table 13. Number of farmers groups under sharing system in Madirepally (CWS, Primary Survey) No. of bore wells under sharing No. of farmers sharing water (including the owner) Total area cultivated with shared water in Kharif (acres)* Total area cultivated with shared water in Rabi (acres)* * Area cultivated using sprinkler systems by sharing groups Because of erratic rainfall and acute drought during , the bore well owners of Madirepally village shared water to an additional 47 farmers apart from the agreed number of farmers, saving the crops in additional 105 acres (not included in Table 13). Bore well owners shared water to others, out of concern to save their neighbor s crops during the drought period. Normal rainfall during (484 mm) improved the water levels significantly and this additional sharing did not impact adversely the groundwater levels during as reflected in Figure 6. Partial financial support was given to each group to purchase micro-irrigation kits ( sprinklers) from Andhra Pradesh Micro-Irrigation Project (APMIP). APMIP is an on-going project of Government of Andhra Pradesh being implemented from 2004 to promote micro-irrigation in all the districts. The project offers micro-irrigation kits at a subsidy of around 66% of total cost. Local private companies manufacturing micro-irrigation kits, which have a long-term agreement with the Government, supply kits to farmers and provide maintenance support. These companies supply micro-irrigation kits as per the demand and provide maintenance support to farmers for a period of 3 years. The Government pays the subsidy portion directly to the companies on purchase of each micro-irrigation kit Each sprinkler kit costs around Rs. 17,000. Government provides a subsidy of Rs. 11,220 (66%) and the group of farmers together contribute Rs. 2,890 (17%) towards the cost of acquiring the kits. Remaining cost of Rs. 2,890 (17%) is contributed by the project. Water sharing farmers pay a nominal sum ranging from Rs per year to the bore well owner as a contribution to maintenance of well and repairs of pump Groundwater conservation and recharge At the beginning of the project, a study of existing surface water structures and systems was made. The study revealed that most of the structures, such as irrigation tanks, were in poor condition and not able to harvest and conserve water effectively. Realizing the need for augmenting the depleted groundwater resources, the project supported renovation and construction of water harvesting and recharge structures. Removal of deposited silt from existing tanks was taken up to increase groundwater recharge. Additional recharge structures included percolation tanks and check dams/bunds to capture and enhance replenishment of groundwater. Table 14 shows the gradual increase in number of such structures functioning in the village with the intervention of the project during

17 Table 14: Number of water harvesting and recharge structures in Madirepally (CWS, Primary Survey) Sl.No. Year Percolation Irrigation Recharge Check tanks tanks* wells** dams/bunds * The existing tank was renovated by increasing it storage capacity by 50% ** Existing dry open wells were converted into recharge wells 6.4. Efficient use of groundwater In addition to augmenting recharge to groundwater, the project also promoted efficient use of groundwater by the following approaches: Discouraging water-intensive crops such as paddy (rice) and encouraging irrigated dry crops Encouraging System of Rice Intensification (S RI) in paddy cultivation. However, few farmers came forward to cultivate paddy using the SRI method due to crop failures from pest attacks during initial experiments in the year Water saving through use of sprinkler and drip systems Change in cropping pattern Due to the concerted efforts made by education, extension and motivation of farmers, there has been a significant change in the cropping pattern in the village, especially in lands under irrigation from shared bore wells. Table 15 gives comparative data on cropping pattern from to on land irrigated from all the wells in the village. Table 15: Cropping pattern under all bore wells in Madirepally (CWS, Primary Survey) Sl. Crops (in Acres) (in Acres) (in Acres) No. Kharif Rabi Total Kharif Rabi Total Kharif Rabi Total I Water-intensive crop systems 1 Paddy Wheat Sunflower Cotton Banana Sweet Orange (under flow irrigation) Sub-total (1 to 6) II Water-saving crop systems 7 Paddy (in SRI method*) Chilli Jatropha Groundnut Sweet Orange (under micro irrigation) 12 Sorghum Ber (fruit) Vegetables

18 15 Fodder Water Melon Sub-total (7 to 16) Total (1 to 16) * SRI System of Rice Intensification Though the rainfall during was mm (June to May), which was 27% less than that of the same months during ( mm), it is evident from the above table that farmers moved towards less water-intensive crops and saved groundwater during compared to year Area under water-saving crops further increased in (in spite of very low rainfall of 297 mm) due to availability of more micro irrigation kits under water sharing system. As a result of this shift in cropping pattern, the risk of crop failure due to withering during dry spells and pest attacks came down and farmers could reduce economic losses from agriculture. Data related to crop losses averted and enhancement of crop productivity is not readily available for analysis. Further study on these aspects is required to quantify the enhancement in crop productivity and income of farmers Participatory hydrological monitoring and water budgeting Participatory hydrological monitoring of groundwater resources has been carried out in the village by involving the community in the process. A rain gauge station was established within the village and daily rainfall was recorded by a volunteer from the community. Water levels in selected 10 irrigation bore wells were also recorded every month, along with cropping pattern under these wells. Information related to storages in surface water structures, cropped area, water level fluctuations in open wells and bore wells is updated every year in a hydrological database and shared with the community by displaying it on the walls of a village common place. Figure 6 depicts the trends in average groundwater level in the village observed from 10 sample bore wells during November 2004 to May Monthly rainfall data for the period is also plotted on the graph correlating with the fluctuation in groundwater level. The data revealed that maximum groundwater fluctuation that occurred between June and November (Pre-monsoon and Post-monsoon) is about 6.26 m during the year 2005, whereas this fluctuation reduced to 3.16 m during This remarkable improvement can be attributed to the recharge measures taken up in the project, good rainfall conditions during late 2005 and also due to the water saving methodologies used by the farmers. Though this is very promising, the long-term trend of the effect of the water management measures still needs to be proven.

19 Figure 6. Average groundwater level and rainfall in Madirepally (CWS, Primary Survey) Net annual availability of groundwater in a given year is estimated as the recharge to groundwater from natural rainfall and surface water harvesting structures during the year. This was calculated by multiplying the rainfall amounts with appropriate recharge-coefficients for different geological formations. Groundwater extraction was calculated by multiplying area under different crops with respective crop water requirement per unit area. Figure 7 gives net annual groundwater availability and draft for the hydrological years (June to May) , and respectively. Relative groundwater draft (draft as a percentage of net annual availability) was then calculated for every hydrological year from the above data and the results were shared and discussed at community level to increase the community awareness and inculcate efficient water use (Figure 8). Figure7. Groundwater budget for Madirepally for the years , and (CWS, Primary Survey and Analysis) Figure 8. Change in groundwater extraction ( to in Madirepally) (CWS, Primary Survey and Analysis) Figure 7 reveals that net annual availability of groundwater increased from year to partly due to the recharge measures taken up in the project and partly due to better rainfall (484 mm) during Actual groundwater draft is more than the safe draft, which is defined as 70% of net annual groundwater availability, during all the years. However, groundwater draft reduced marginally by 4.6 % (from 1,165,186 m 3 to 1,111,933 m 3 ) from to due to the use of micro irrigation kits with 27% (18 out of total 65) of functional bore wells.