Managed aquifer recharge: the widening gap between law and policy in India

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed discussions on various options to overcome groundwater depletion, such as rainwater harvesting (RWH) and ‘artificial recharge’ methods. This paper addresses law and policy issues relating to managed aquifer recharge (MAR). Based on an analysis of the National Water Policy of India and water polices and laws of the Indian states, a concrete case study, namely Chennai metropolitan area, has been studied in detail. The city of Chennai and the State of Tamil Nadu provide a favorable atmosphere for groundwater recharge, making, e.g. RWH mandatory. However, the legal framework does not support more systematic approaches towards MAR and the administrative praxis does not ensure that groundwater recharge is offset by an increase of illegal groundwater extraction.

An Overview of Managed Aquifer Recharge in Brazil

“…Consequently, they cannot be considered MAR applications. This delay in adopting MAR initiatives, as happens also in India, induces the risk of loss of economic and social benefits [63]. However, since 2010, there have been some academic MAR assessment initiatives for both urban and rural areas as well.…”

Governance Arrangements for the Scaling Up of Small-Scale Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Systems – Lessons From India

“…However, whereas the governance framework for centralized systems is already established and the one for FSM under quick development, the governance framework of small-scale sanitation is still weak, despite its growing role in increasing sanitation coverage, water reuse and protecting the environment. Besides, as with many environmental policies in India (Brunner et al, 2010;Sakthivel et al, 2015), there is an important gap between the policies and the actual implementation on the ground. Urban wastewater management in India is mainly driven by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and their line agencies, as illustrated in Figure 1.…”

Policy Preferences about Managed Aquifer Recharge for Securing Sustainable Water Supply to Chennai City, India

“…Over 90% of the water supply of Chennai is covered by water stemming from reservoirs, which are depending on the monsoon rains ( [14] and Figure 1). When the reservoirs are empty then the water to the city is mostly met by groundwater to cover the gap in water supply.…”

“…However, due to exploitation of the groundwater resources (pumping of groundwater for domestic, industrial and agricultural water supply), the contribution of groundwater to the water supply of Chennai has diminished, from a maximum of 25% to around 6% during 2000. At the beginning of the 2013 summer season (March 2013) the share of groundwater was as low as 1% [14]. This indicates over-dependence on all current sources to meet Chennai's water supply.…”