Dr. Jared Buono, Hydrologist at Gram Pari talks about how Groundwater recharge and Spring Revival can go hand in hand. It can supply clean drinking water and mobilize community at the same time.

1. Spring Protection:
Safe & Sustainable Drinking
Water in the Western Ghats
Dr. Jared Buono
Mr Dhananjay Ambrale
World Water Day, 2014
IIT Mumbai

2. Outline
• Hydrogeology
• Social importance
• Ecological status
• Grassroots restoration efforts

3. Western Ghats
Focus Area:
Satara District

4. Monsoon, Patchputewadi Village

5. Dry Season, Patchputewadi

6. Water is #1 issue:
• Degraded watersheds
• Over pumping
• Natural conditions

7. Basalt:
• Fine grained
• Groundwater flow
limited to cracks, vesicles

8. Deccan traps
• 66M year old lava
• 500K km2 area
• ~2000m thick
Present day Iceland

11. Generalized
Geology
Massive Basalt
Compound
Flows
Talus & Soil

12. Typical Groundwater
Flow Paths
- At contacts
- Occasional fractures
Spring
Formation

14. Spring recharge
zone
Discharge zone
Well recharge zone
Springs

15. Spring
Formation
Laterite Cap
Typical Groundwater
Flow Paths
- At contacts
- Occasional fractures
- Laterite plateaus

16. Laterite tableland formations in Satara
District

17. • Up to 1,00,000 liters per day
• 50 to 1400m above sea level
• Geology: basalt, laterite or talus
• Spring type: contact or fracture
General Spring Characteristics

18. Water quality of springs
• Water quality very good; min & max values
– Temp: 17 – 22 °C (winter)
– Ph: 7.3 – 8.3
– TDS: 35 – 160 mg/l
– EC: 70 – 320 mmho/cm
– Hardness (CaCO3): 30 – 140 mg/l
– Na: 2 – 25 mg/l
– K: 0 – 2 mg/l
– Ca2: 10 – 36 mg/l
– Mg2: 1 – 12 mg/l
– HCO3: 31 – 177 mg/l
– Cl: 7 – 14 mg/l
– Fe2: 0.4 – 0.7 mg/l *****
From Naik et al. 2000
• Only iron shows marginal excess
• Pathogens are rare at source (e.g. no fecals)

19. Laterite
Basalt
Villages Accessing
Spring Water
Potential Spring
Locations

20. Socioeconomic value
– Uses: drinking, irrigation, temples, animals
– Safe and sustainable source of drinking water
• Gravity-fed = no pumping cost
• Year round supply
• Water quality very high

21. Cultural value

22. Credit: Rohit Gowaikar, Wikipedia/Flickr
Historic value

23. Current State of Springs

24. Typical spring box
• Installed in 1970s as drought
response
• Poor design & maintenance =
leaks, contamination
• Declining flow due to adjacent
pumping, ecological
degradation

25. The Rush for More

29. Ecological Degradation
• Anthropogenic fire
• Over grazing
• Fuel wood collection

31. Almost all springs
under threat
Declining flow due to:
• Deforestation
• Groundwater
exploitation

32. • How many springs
are there?
• How many people
affected?

33. Karjat Area:
Elevation – 50 m
Flow – ~7 l/m
Use – irrigation
Status – disuse,
loss to bore wells
Pune Area:
Elevation – 700 m
Flow – ~10 l/m
Use – drinking
Status – loss to
bores, wells
Koyna Area:
Elev – 800 m
Flow – ~30 l/m
Use – drinking
Status – healthy in
unpopulated area
Panchgani Area:
Elev – 1200 m
Flow – ~9 l/m
Use – drinking
Status – loss to
bores, wells

34. Satara
District

35. Maharashtra
Location Map
SATARA DISTRICT SPRINGS
Legend
District Boundary
Taluka Boundary
Spring Locations (Subsample)
Laterite Tableland Formations
• Our growing map of springs
• For every point there are probably
100 more

36. Detailed survey:
• >20 spring systems
• 10 dependent villages
• >10000 people
• All springs threatened

37. Western Ghats
Modified from Molur et al. 2011
National Importance
of the Western Ghats

38. Western Ghats Watersheds
- Cover 9 states
- Direct water supply for
120 million people
- Indirect, >400 million
*Molur et al. 2011
Modified from Molur et al. 2011
Western Ghats

39. Laterite tableland formations in Satara
District

40. Source: Wikimedia Commons; Hillebrand, Steve

41. Precipitation
Time
Discharge

43. Springshed Restoration &
Recharge

46. Standard Spring Box

47. Nalla-box (sand dam)
With livestock or wildlife guzzler

49. Empowerment

50. Spring recharge
zone
Discharge zone
Well recharge zone
Springs
Piryachiwadi Village:
Recharge & Discharge Zones
April 2013

51. Godavalli Aquifer
Contour
Feb 2014
Wells
Spring
*

52. Wells
Spring
Flow Vectors
*
Godavalli Aquifer
Feb 2014

53. Massive Basalt
Vesicular Basalt
Talus & Soils
Complex
1315 m
1220 m
1187 m
1125 m
1090 m
Massive Basalt
Vesicular Basalt
Laterite Rocky
Plateau
RECHARGE ZONE
SPRING – DISCHARGE
ZONE
Godavalli Village:
Recharge & Discharge
Zones
Feb 2014

54. Massive Basalt
Vesicular Basalt
Talus & Soils
Complex
1315 m
1220 m
1187 m
1125 m
1090 m
Massive Basalt
Vesicular Basalt
Laterite Rocky
Plateau
Recharge Zone
Feb 2014

55. Lineament/Fracture Zone along Nala
Management – Reforestation
Management – Roof Water Harvest &
Limited Pumping
Laterite - Basalt Contact Contour
N
Management Recommendations
Feb 2014

56. Map Credit: wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons
• Part of initiative
by Arghyam to
make springs
national priority
•We are partners
for Western
Ghats

57. • Expand to more villages
• Create a knowledge base in area
• Applied research to better understand springs
• Hydrologic importance of laterite plateaus
• Quantify land-use effects on spring flow
• Provide spring-specific policy recommendations
Future Activities

58. THANKS!
Now come work with us…
jared.buono@gmail.com | +91 966 537 4629
dhanuambrale.7@gmail.com | +91 997 579 9311
grampari.org
facebook/grampari.org
REFERENCES:
Molur, S., Smith, K.G., Daniel, B.A. and Darwall, W.R.T. (Compilers). 2011. The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in
the Western Ghats, India. Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland, IUCN, and Coimbatore, India: Zoo Outreach Organisation.
Naik, P.K., · A.K. Awasthi, P.C. Mohan. 2002. Springs in a Headwater Basin in the Deccan Trap Country of the Western Ghats, India.
Hydrogeology Journal (2002) 10:553–565.

61. GRAMPARI
MISSION:
- Empower rural India
through thoughtful,
community-led
programs
CORE AREAS:
- Livelihoods
- Governance
- Health &
Environment