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Tailoring Water Management Solutions to India

Recent research suggests government and donor efforts to transfer water management institutions and policies from western countries to India fail to take into account the realities of the country's river basins - undermining attempts to contain the growing water crisis and reduce vulnerability to drought.

"Water management solutions developed in Europe, North America and Australia cannot be expected to address the more fundamental issues that water sectors in South Asia must contend with. The items that top the water agenda here - such as providing access to water for drinking, growing food, and sustainable groundwater management - are either unresolved in the developed world or have become irrelevant due to economic development," argues Dr. Tushaar Shah of the IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program - a new initiative to introduce research knowledge into the policy planning process.

Recent research, which analyzed the effectiveness of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) models in implementing sustainable water management regimes, found that in many cases these models were not designed to handle the hydrogeology, demography, socio-economics, and organization of the water sector found in South Asia.

This does not mean that India and other South Asian countries cannot learn valuable lessons from these models. Loosely structured, they can serve as coordinating mechanisms, facilitating dialogue and negotiation on resource allocation among organized stakeholders and representative bodies. But River Basin Organizations cannot by themselves address the more fundamental issues that water sectors in India must contend with.

"Its an entirely different ball game from IRBM in western countries," explains Dr. Tushaar Shah. "For reform to succeed in developing countries such as India, you have to find ways of influencing huge numbers of small-scale water users who depend on rain-fed agriculture and private or community water storage, without much mediation from public agencies or service providers."

For IRBM to work in India and other countries in South Asia, models have to be properly tailored to local conditions. IWMI-Tata researchers have highlighted four areas policy makers need to consider for the successful application of IRBM.

The challenge for developing countries when implementing IRBM

  • Regulate the informal water sector: How do you regulate vast numbers of small-scale users who are not linked to public institutions? One possibility is to find ways of underpinning macro-level institutions with nested organizations of users at the grassroots.
  • Improve the productivity of "Green Water": For countries such as India, where the population density is high, both upstream and downstream, increasing the productivity of water diverted from rivers is less important than being able to capture rainfall and store water effectively in the soil profile ("green water").
  • Manage groundwater: In South Asia, protecting groundwater from over-exploitation by millions of small unlicensed pumpers is an increasingly pressing issue. Community initiatives for groundwater recharge may offer the most immediate hope for reversing damage in areas where water tables are dropping as much as a meter each year.
  • Water scarcity: The heart of the problem in most water-scarce countries is too many people living off a limited natural resource base. Getting more crop, cash and jobs per drop is part of the answer; the other is generating off-farm livelihoods in rural areas.

For more information on the research see 'The Challenges of Integrated River Basin Management in India,' issue 3 of the Water Policy Briefing series (http://www.iwmi.org/waterpolicybriefing)

For questions and comments on the research contact Dr. Tushaar Shah on +91-2692-229311-13 or e-mail t.shah@cgiar.org

For general enquiries contact Jack Durrell (j.durrell@cgiar.org) at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Background

The IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program is a new initiative supported by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) - a non-profit research and development organization dedicated to providing practical solutions to a range of water management problems. IWMI-Tata presents new perspectives and practical solutions derived from the wealth of research done in India on water resources management. Its objective is to help policy makers at the central, state and local levels address their water challenges - in areas such as sustainable groundwater management, water scarcity, and rural poverty - by translating research findings into practical policy recommendations.

The Policy Program's web site (http://www.iwmi.org/iwmi-tata) promotes the exchange of knowledge on water resources management within the research community and between researchers and policy makers in India.

The Water Policy Briefing Series presents new perspectives and solutions to water problems in emerging economic nations. Each briefing is based on peer-reviewed research that challenges policy makers and planners to think differently about the way water is managed for agriculture. To view current issues of the series visit http://www.iwmi.org/waterpolicybriefing