Spring Protection:Safe & Sustainable Drinking Water in the Western Ghats

Dr. Jared BuonoMr Dhananjay AmbraleWorld Water Day, 2014

IIT Mumbai

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

Western Ghats

Focus Area: Satara District

Monsoon, Patchputewadi Village

Dry Season, Patchputewadi

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

Basalt:• Fine grained• Groundwater flow

limited to cracks, vesicles

Deccan traps• 66M year old lava• 500K km2 area• ~2000m thick

Present day Iceland

Generalized Geology

Massive Basalt

Compound Flows

Talus & Soil

Typical Groundwater Flow Paths- At contacts- Occasional fractures

Spring Formation

Spring recharge zone

Discharge zone

Well recharge zone

Springs

SpringFormation

Laterite Cap

Typical Groundwater Flow Paths- At contacts- Occasional fractures- Laterite plateaus

Laterite tableland formations in Satara District

• 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

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)

Laterite

Basalt

Villages Accessing Spring Water

Potential Spring Locations

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

Cultural value

Credit: Rohit Gowaikar, Wikipedia/Flickr

Historic value

Current State of Springs

Typical spring box • Installed in 1970s as drought

response• Poor design & maintenance =

leaks, contamination• Declining flow due to adjacent

pumping, ecological degradation

The Rush for More

Ecological Degradation

• Anthropogenic fire• Over grazing• Fuel wood collection

Almost all springs under threat

Declining flow due to:• Deforestation• Groundwater

exploitation

• How many springs are there? • How many people

affected?

Karjat Area:Elevation – 50 mFlow – ~7 l/m Use – irrigationStatus – disuse, loss to bore wells

Pune Area:Elevation – 700 mFlow – ~10 l/m Use – drinkingStatus – loss to bores, wells

Koyna Area:Elev – 800 mFlow – ~30 l/m Use – drinkingStatus – healthy in unpopulated area

Panchgani Area:Elev – 1200 mFlow – ~9 l/m Use – drinkingStatus – loss to bores, wells

Western Ghats

Western Ghats

Satara District

Maharashtra Location Map

SATARA DISTRICT SPRINGSLegend

District Boundary Taluka Boundary Spring Locations (Subsample) Laterite Tableland Formations

• Our growing map of springs• For every point there are probably

100 more

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

Western Ghats

Modified from Molur et al. 2011

National Importance of the Western Ghats

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

Laterite tableland formations in Satara District

Source: Wikimedia Commons; Hillebrand, Steve

Prec

ipita

tion

Time

Discharge

Springshed Restoration & Recharge

Standard Spring Box

Nalla-box (sand dam)

With livestock or wildlife guzzler

Empowerment

Spring recharge zone

Discharge zone

Well recharge zone

Springs

Piryachiwadi Village: Recharge & Discharge Zones

April 2013

Godavalli Aquifer Contour

Feb 2014

WellsSpring

*

Longitude (decimal degrees)

Latit

ude

(dec

imal

deg

rees

)

Elevation (m)

WellsSpringFlow Vectors

*

Godavalli Aquifer Feb 2014

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

ZonesFeb 2014

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 ZoneFeb 2014

RECHARGE ZONE

Lineament/Fracture Zone along Nala Management – Reforestation Management – Roof Water Harvest & Limited Pumping Laterite - Basalt Contact Contour

N

Management RecommendationsFeb 2014

Map Credit: wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons

• Part of initiative by Arghyam to make springs national priority

•We are partners for Western Ghats

• 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

THANKS!Now come work with us…

jared.buono@gmail.com | +91 966 537 4629dhanuambrale.7@gmail.com | +91 997 579 9311

grampari.orgfacebook/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.

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