ABSTRACT
As noted in the preceding chapter, there has been a rapid expansion of groundwater irrigation in India in the last few decades, such that this now accounts for almost 60 per cent of the irrigated area. The consequent rapid extraction of water has resulted in steep declines in the water tables, low productivity of wells, deteriorating ground-water quality, and even intrusion of sea water in many areas. In addition, large numbers of shallow wells have run dry. Some estimates indicate that the withdrawal rate in India is twice the recharge rate (IWMI, 2002). In response to this, a major grassroots institutional initiative on improving the ground-water availability has been the check dam movement in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in India. This revolves around the formation of local village-level institutions to jointly undertake the planning, finance and construction of a system of check dams as well as other rain-water harvesting structures in and around the village. The purpose is to collect and hold the rainwater for a short time so as to recharge the underground aquifers, thereby bringing water to the open wells, most of which have run dry. From the late 1990s, such institutions have been formed in hundreds of villages in the region and the movement appears to have had a significant impact on water availability and agricultural incomes.
