My Well, Our Water Catalysing social responses to manage groundwater
Multi-sourcing inside the city (Borewells registered with BWSSB, used within the city too)
Subdivision C3
Groundwater for the “periphery”• The “periphery” now more populous• Groundwater primary source for the periphery• No single source of data for number of wells or volume of water
extracted• A 2005 ISEC study estimates 200,000 to 450,000 borewells in
Bangalore. • Same study estimated ~6500 • 3000 water Tankers belonging
to 100-120 water tanker companies
• Official Thyagaraja report pegs 500 + MLD, 400,000+ borewells
…and we don’t even understand our Aquifers.
Can all of us citizens become a part of understanding this?
Living history of our aquifers:Can we connect back to our water heritage?,can’t we revive our sense of pride and ownership ?
Can we share the story of our wells and borewells ? Can this be the basis of understanding our aquifers ?
Will all of us then embrace “Aquifer management responses”?
Two stories : A lake and a layout
A heartening story of citizen drivenrevival and stewardship of the
Kaikondrahalli Lake
A private layout completely dependent on groundwater
demonstrates exemplary self- regulation solutions from source to
sink
Kaikondrahalli Lake Rainbow Drive Layout
The Yamalur Watershed• South east of the city, 8 micro-
watersheds. Dakshina Pinakini Basin
• Completely groundwater driven. No piped supply
• 33 Sq km, multiple wards + a panchayat (Halanayakanahalli panchayat)
• 15 lakes (in and out of BBMP)• Mixed land use – residential,
commercial, institutional & peri-urban
• Residential population: 117,844 in BBMP area & 5936 in panchayat area
Kaikondrahalli kere Rainbow drive
Rainbow Drive : Water management Source to sinkIntervention OutcomeCommunity borewells only Basis for community water management. Increasing block tariff (revised 4 times). Tariff penalizes HH’s with no Rainwater harvesting (RWH)
Demand plunges from 250 LPCD to around 150 LPCD.100 % RWH Compliance by households
300 Recharge wells across individual households and in community areas
All flooding problems gone !A recharge of around 87 ML / year.Shallower borewells yielding better…
Investment into Phytorid based Waste water treatment system (in place of old dysfunctional STP)
Reduction in monthly water expenses by Rs 80,000 – Rs 90,000/-. Far superior treated water quality
Investments to reuse waste water for gardening and irrigation
Further reduction in demand – still being quanitified
Sale of Treated waste water for urban agriculture
Revenue of Rs 25 / KL of sold waste water.
Can excess treated waste water be recharged safely ?
Returning it back to nature
Rainbow Drive : Impact
Kaikondrahalli kere Rainbow drive
33 Sq km or 33,000,000 sqm
Residential population125,000 people(+ floating population)
Land per residing person264 sqm / person
34 acres or 137360 sqm or
0.4% of land area
Residential population1200 (@full occupancy)
Land per person114.4 sqm/ person
Rainbow Drive : Impact
Kaikondrahalli kere Rainbow drive
33 Sq km or 33,000,000 sqm
Residential population125,000 people(+ floating population)
Land per residing person264 sqm / person
Rainfall (@ 800mm/year)72.3 MLD equivalent
Residential demand (@150 LPCD)18.75 MLD6844 ML/Year
34 acres or 137360 sqm or
0.4% of land area
Residential population1200 (@full occupancy)
Land per person114.4 sqm/ person
Reduction in demand100 LPCD
44 ML / Year
Annual Recharge88 ML/ Year
Freshwater made available132 ML / Year
Freshwater made availableBy 50 Rainbow Drives =Residential demand of the Water shed
50 Rainbow Drives = 20% land area
Rainbow Drive : Impact
Kaikondrahalli kere Rainbow drive
33 Sq km or 33,000,000 sqm
Residential population125,000 people(+ floating population)
Land per residing person264 sqm / person
Rainfall (@ 800mm/year)72.3 MLD equivalent
Residential demand (@150 LPCD)18.75 MLD6844 ML/Year
Lakes - 442 acres or 180 hectares or
0.5% of land area
Average recharge potential:10 Litres – 20 Liters / sqm /
day
Recharge:18 – 36 ML / Day
6570 ML/ year – 13140 ML/year
So lets map & manage our aquifers together…..
Thank you [email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] http://biometrust.blogspot.in/
www.biome-solutions.com
The First step : A collaborative initiative
Biome Environmental Trust A Thoughtful do tank
ACWADAM Water resources Think Tank, Action Research CentreExpert hydrogeologists
MAP UNITY Information, GIS to enable Citizen Problem Solving
Supported by
Wipro Technologies Ltd(Sustainability Initiative, Corporate Citizen)
This is work in progress…Lots of open questions.
Citizen Aquifer map : The process
• Stories & ready data• Observation sites• Investments in instruments (?)• Reading and sharing data
• Data cleaning &verification• Hydrological & hydrogeological
interpretation• Demystification of science
• Developing communication
• “Go to” platform. • Create sense of citizen ownership
• Compatibility with various froms of data gathering
• Open source tools for data gathering
• Facilitation for implementing responses
• Events, festivals, workshops• Peer-to-peer exchanges of best
practices• Engagement with Governance
Citizens :share the
story of their wells and
their water with the city
Virtual platform:
Visualisation & communication
platform Conversation & dialogue space
Citizens :Conversations
CommunicationEngagement with
Governance & Advocacy
Implement responses
Citizen Aquifer map : The process
• Stories & ready data• Observation sites• Investments in instruments (?)• Reading and sharing data
• Data cleaning &verification• Hydrological & hydrogeological
interpretation• Demystification of science
• Developing communication
• “Go to” platform. • Create sense of citizen ownership
• Compatibility with various froms of data gathering
• Open source tools for data gathering
• Facilitation for implementing responses
• Events, festivals, workshops• Peer-to-peer exchanges of best
practices• Engagement with Governance
Citizens :share the
story of their wells and
their water with the city
Virtual platform:
Visualisation & communication
platform Conversation & dialogue space
Citizens :Conversations
CommunicationEngagement with
Governance & Advocacy
Implement responses
OutputsOutcomes
Process is as important as outputs. It’s the process the drives the outcomes
Living history of our aquifers:Connecting citizens to water heritage,Instilling a sense of pride and ownership
Stakeholders, participation & dataTypes of Stakeholders processes of engagement
& nature of participation Contribution
RWAs, POAs individual households and individual citizens
Data from their own records, permission to install regular monitoring devices, one time measurements onsite. Engagement through events / workshops. Creation of “Citizen data Volunteers”.
Data & stories about demand, supply,
wells/borewells & waste water management
Skills such as documentation, video/photo &
communication design
Open source tools such as for data collection & mobile
apps
Schools & Educational institutions
Can there be education modules on groundwater involving measurements that get “embedded” for year-on-year data ?
Business campuses and their employees
Can leadership in transparency drive voluntary disclosure of data ?
Service providers (Borewell diggers, camera inspection etc)
One-on-one conversations, Events & workshops. They are citizens too.
Data from their service records, knowledge of whats happening in the region
Other researchers Knowledge partnering Research skills, other data and knowledge
Challenges : Just not short of them!
• Education of Citizens (eg: what is static water level?) – but that’s the whole point !
• Different kinds of data, some being complex measurements
• Identifying and capturing different forms of stake in groundwater
• “Transient” but significant water use : construction & dewatering
• Communication of research results – but that’s the whole point !
Outcomes A KSPCB Citizens Dialogue hosted by KSPCB
KSPCB visits a Phytorid based waste water treatment plantFirst application for recharging treated waste water applied.
Thank you
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] http://biometrust.blogspot.in/
www.biome-solutions.com