AGRAR Project Case Study Research Report AUGMENTING GROUNDWATER RESOURCES BY ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE Detailed case study of Kolwan valley, Mulshi taluka, Pune district, India Himanshu Kulkarni, Uma Badarayani, Vinit Phadnis and Richeldis Robb Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management Plot 4, Lenyadri society, Sus road, Pashan, Pune-411021, India Email: [email protected] Website: www.acwadam.org Bibliographic reference Front Cover: Main monitoring Kulkarni, H., Badarayani, U., Phadnis, V. and Robb R., 2005. Detailed case study of Kolwan valley, Mulshi taluka, site in Kolwan valley (check Pune district, Maharashtra. AGRAR Project, Final Case dam CD3) with a part of the Study Report. stilling well and an observation www.bgs.ac.uk/hydrogeology/agrar borehole. Funded by Co-ordinated by JULY 2005 Acknowledgement This research project was funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID), UK, through the British Geological Survey (BGS), Wallingford, UK. The authors of this report acknowledge DFID and BGS, UK for funding and co- ordinating this study respectively. The Kolwan case study report gained significantly from inputs provided by BGS from time-to-time. We take this opportunity to acknowledge advice and suggestions lent by Mr. Ian Gale, Mr. David Macdonald, Mr. Roger Calow, Ms. Ilka Neuman and Mrs. Panchali Guha of the BGS. We also acknowledge suggestions made by other scientists from the Institute of Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK, through Mr. Ian Gale, to our queries on various aspects of hydrometeorological analysis. The Kolwan case study site provided many challenges, right from the inception stage of the project. The authors were able to meet these challenges head-on only through a co-ordinated effort involving colleagues from ACWADAM and GOMUKH. We would particularly like to thank the trustees of ACWADAM, Prof. Deolankar (who is currently a senior professor at the University of Pune carefully reviewed this report and made useful suggestions towards its improvement), Dr. Anil Lalwani, Dr. V. V. Peshwa, Dr. V. G. Phansalkar, Dr. Vivek Kale, Mr. Suhas Joshee and Dr. (Mrs.) S. K. Joshi, all of whom took active interest in the project and provided helpful suggestions from time to time. Dr. Peshwa and Dr. Phansalkar also gave useful inputs during fieldwork, for which we specially thank them. We also acknowledge the inputs rendered by Ms. Sangeeta Bhuia nee Sharma during the initial phases of this project, especially during the inception phase fieldwork and during the geophysical surveys leading to the drilling of observation boreholes. Mr. Suhas Jamkhandi has single-handedly managed our accounts and also provided enormous support in the day-to-day administration. We thank him for his patience and support at all stages of the AGRAR project. GOMUKH was an active partner on this project. GOMUKH made important contribution to this study and their staff from Pune and Chale helped immensely in the project study. We would particularly like to thank Mr. Suneel Waman, Mr. Raosaheb Badhe (who subsequently left GOMUKH), Mr. Datta Shelke, Mr. Balasaheb Jaigude, Mr. Jalinder Dhamale, Mr. Aalam Tamboli and Ms. Chikoo ….for their immense contributions to activities on this project. We would also like to thank Mr. Pramod Sadolikar (consultant to GOMUKH) for his analytical inputs to the socio-economic survey. Mr. Vijay Paranjape, GOMUKH’s principal trustee, also facilitated some of the discussions between ACWADAM and GOMUKH, that went a long way in improving the whole effort. We sincerely acknowledge GOMUKH’s inputs to this project. Many government departments provided us secondary data. These include rainfall data for Hadashi and Walen Minor Irrigation Tanks and weather station data from Karmoli. These recording stations are operated by the Irrigation Deparment and Water Resources Division respectively, both under the aegis of Government of Maharashtra. We are also grateful to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) regional office in Pune for sharing their observation well data for the dug well in Kolwan. It would have been difficult to access the latest census data without the help of the Statistics Division, Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Maharashtra. Mr. Harshavardhan Dhawan effectively integrated his environmental sciences project work (a summary of which is presented in the report) with the AGRAR study. We thank him, not only for his exhaustive work on irrigated agriculture in Chikhalgaon but his continued support during all other monitoring activities, especially during the period when pumping tests were conducted on the observation bore holes in Chikhalgaon. We would also like to thank Mr. Manoj Gholap and Mr. Dnyaneshwar Borge, who not only drove us to the field for every field visit (sometimes in very adverse conditions and through difficult terrain) but provided helping hands during the monitoring of bore holes, pumping tests and collection of samples for analyzing water quality. A two-day seminar in October 2004 (Artificial Recharge of Groundwater), in Pune, helped us not only in sharing AGRAR experiences from the three main case study sites, but also in listening to various perspectives on artificial recharge, which in turn, directly or indirectly helped broaden our understanding on the subject. Representatives from Government organizations, NGOs and some private consultants actively participated in the seminar through presentations and discussions. We are highly indebted to them for providing new insights on artificial recharge, especially in India. A special mention needs to be made about Late Mr. Rakshe of Dynalabs, who not only helped install the weather station network but also made useful inputs to other partners during the workshop held in Pune in March 2004. And finally, it would have been impossible to conduct the research project without the support and help of communities from the Kolwan valley. We would specially like to single out the temperamental Phale guruji (teacher) of Chikhalgaon whose constant encouragement and proactive critique helped improve our interface with the villagers of Chikhalgaon. The deputy sarpanch of Chikhalgaon, Mr. Lahu Phale and his family needs a special mention for his zeal and enthusiastic support during fieldwork. There were common people from villages in Kolwan valley, who helped us in so many ways, often interrupting their daily chores to lend a helping hand to our tasks. We express our sincere gratitude to them. It is quite likely that in a project like this, some names tend to be inadvertently left out. If at all this has happened, we sincerely apologise for the lapse and express our thanks to these individuals or organsations here. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page no. Summary 1 1. Purpose 1.1 Organisation and staff 2 1.2 Role played by local communities 3 1.3 Structure of the report 4 2. Case of setting 5 2.1 Introduction 5 2.2 District-scale setting 8 2.2.1 Pune district 12 2.2.2 Mulshi taluka 15 2.3 Kolwan valley 18 2.3.1 Topography and drainage 21 2.3.2 Climate 21 2.3.3 Rainfall 23 2.3.4 Soil type 25 2.3.5 Geology 27 2.3.6 Socio-economic profile and interventions through 30 watershed development projects 2.4 Watershed scale setting 34 2.4.1 Physical setting 34 2.4.2 Socio-economic setting 40 2.5 Recharge structure 46 3. Methodology 48 3.1 Introduction 48 3.2 Base line physical surveys, monitoring and groundwater 49 modeling 3.2.1 Baseline physical surveys 49 3.2.2 Hydrological monitoring infrastructure and 53 protocol 3.3 Socio-economic evaluation 72 3.3.1 Management and institutional arrangements 73 3.3.2 Water and livelihood surveys 74 3.3.3 Impact assessment 75 4. Results: Physical aspects 77 4.1 Introduction 77 4.2 Recharge site: Check dam CD3 78 4.2.1 Geology 80 4.2.2 Pumping test results 85 4.2.3 Check dams and hydrological time series data 87 4.2.4 Water balance for CD3 123 4.2.5 Water balance for structures CD1 and CD2 131 4.3 Watershed scale results 139 4.3.1 Chikhalgaon watershed 139 4.3.2 Other watersheds 143 4.4 Satellite sites and river basins 145 4.4.1 Rainfall data 145 4.4.2 Evaporation 147 4.4.3 Groundwater 150 4.4.4 Water balance 155 4.5 Hydrochemical characteristics 157 4.5.1 Water types and physiochemical characteristics 159 4.5.2 Major and minor elements 161 4.5.3 Geochemical controls 162 4.5.4 Regional characteristics 167 4.5.5 Water quality and depth 168 4.5.6 Hydrochemistry of recharge water 168 4.5.7 Pollution indicators 168 4.6 Comparison of results from recharge sites 169 5. Results: Socio-economic aspects 170 5.1 Patterns of water use 170 5.1.1 Drinking water and domestic use 170 5.1.2 Irrigation 172 5.1.3 Water for livestock and other uses 174 5.2 Management and Institutional arrangements 174 5.3 Water and livelihood analysis 176 5.3.1 Changes in resource conditions 176 5.3.2 Changes in access to and use of groundwater 177 5.3.3 Changes in livelihood ‘Outcomes’ 181 5.4 Impact assessment 183 5.4.1 Social change 183 5.4.2 Economic improvement 186 5.4.3 Benefits to livestock 187 5.4.4 Changes in cropping pattern 187 5.4.5 Other benefits 190 5.4.6 Other impacts 192 Annexure 1. Summary of findings on irrigated agriculture in 193 Chikhalgaon village 6. Discussion 209 6.1 Physical effectiveness of recharge structures 209 6.1.1 Natural and artificial recharge 210 6.1.2 Spatial and temporal influence of artificial 213 recharge 6.1.3 Scale and variability 215 6.2 Artificial recharge and livelihoods 216 6.2.1 Limitations in attributing causality to impact on 216 livelihoods 6.2.2 Groundwater dependent activities 218 6.3 Management and institutional arrangements 220 6.4 Sustainability of benefits 221 7.