Context: On March 22, World Water Day, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain 2025, emphasising the importance of community participation in water conservation.
Relevance of the Topic: Mains: Issues in rural water policies and Role of communities in water conservation.
Key Issues in Rural Water Policies
1. Limited community participation and decision-making power:
- Existing water policies provide for the participation of indigenous and local communities, but it is limited to the management of water sources. The real decision-making powers remain with the state authorities. E.g., Water User Associations (WUAs), statutory bodies created since the 1990s, involve farmers in managing irrigation sources, but they have no say in policy decisions.
- As a result, policies impose uniform, formalised water governance structures, ignoring local ecological knowledge and traditional conservation practices.
Examples of Indigenous Water Conservation Practices:
- Khadins (Rajasthan): Earthen embankments to store rainwater for agriculture.
- Johads (Haryana, Rajasthan): Small ponds to recharge groundwater.
- Orans and Sacred Groves (Western India): Forested areas that protect water sources.
- Eri System (Tamil Nadu): Traditional tanks that regulate irrigation and groundwater levels
(b) Fragmentation of Water Management: Different parts of the ecosystem, such as forests, water, land, and biodiversity, are regulated by different policies and authorities. This fragmented approach fails to consider the interdependence of these constituents.
(c) Social Inequality in Water Access and Management:
- Marginalised groups (Dalits, Adivasis, landless laborers) are disproportionately vulnerable to water shortages and environmental crises. Current policies fail to ensure equal participation and benefits for these groups. While schemes promote community involvement, they do not address social barriers that limit their access to water resources.
(d) Ignoring Ecological Rights of Nature:
- Water policies focus solely on human needs, neglecting the intrinsic value of natural ecosystems. Judicial interventions have recognised the rights of nature, but policies fail to implement this perspective in water conservation strategies.
- In contrast, some local communities prioritise water availability for animals and ecosystems, showing a more-than-human approach that policies overlook.
(e) Lack of Climate-Resilient Water Management: Climate change is widening India’s water gap, yet current policies do not integrate climate adaptation strategies. A 2024 Nature journal report warns that rising global temperatures will worsen India’s water crisis, but water policies remain reactive rather than pro-active.
Way Forward
- Decentralised decision-making and local participation: Empower communities by giving them real authority over water resource management. Recognise and integrate traditional ecological knowledge into formal policies.
- Integrated water governance: Link water policies with forests, biodiversity, and land-use management to ensure sustainable conservation. Adopt models like orans (sacred forests), which combine water conservation with ecological protection.
- Equity and Inclusion in water access: Address social barriers preventing marginalised communities from accessing water resources.
- Recognition of ecosystem rights in water policies: Shift focus from human-centric water policies to an ecosystem-based approach.Protect and restore natural water bodies and their ecological functions.
- Climate-Resilient water management: Implement policies that focus on climate adaptation, such as:
- In-situ rainwater harvesting
- Increasing forest and grass cover to reduce runoff
- Improving water retention in rural landscapes.
Therefore, rural water policies should facilitate active engagement with communities. This means moving beyond the existing rhetoric of engagement, centering communities’ voices in the decision-making process in water governance and by capacity building.