Our aquifers, our water We have to understand it, we have to protect it

Boundaries we think in terms of : districts, wards, constituencies …

… our own property boundaries

… these dictate

what we consider“ours”…

Do the rules of these boundaries matter for

ground-water?How do we understand whats happening below our feet ?

Do we “own” our groundwater ?

Do we feel ownership for our groundwater ?

Other boundaries we don’t think of :

.. And we are in the Dakshina Pinakini Basin

(not Kaveri).

Living historyof our ground-water,

of our aquifers

Desilting the well in Classic Orchards

Recharge wellsActing as

withdrawal wells in

SJR Eastwood

Recharge wellsOf Rainbow Drive attracting hydrogeologists from

everywhere

Recharge wellsOf Rainbow Drive attracting hydrogeologists from

everywhere

Dr Himanshu Kulkarni,Chairman, Groundwater Sustainability Committee, Planning commission

Two borewells right next to each other (near Halanayakanahalli Kere)

One yields and the other does notHold your ear to the non-yielding borewell and you

hear water flowing

The story of what happened when SJR Redwoods tried to dig a borewell….

How does a borewell look inside ?

Footage from a “camera inspection” of a borewell conducted by a citizen of

Bengaluru…..

These stories of your open and borewells are a

window to groundwater You have to become a part of

understanding it better…..

Groundwater :AquifersGroundwater resides in Aquifers :• Aquifers don’t respect property, political or administrative boundaries.

• Aquifers are a common-property resource. You or me or anybody don’t “own” it.

• Aquifers can be understood. They can be mapped, and how water flows in it, how much water it holds can be established. (We don’t have this understanding for ours)

• With this understanding and all our participation & stewardship Aquifers can be managed. (eg: Edwards Aquifer, Texas )

Aquifers

Aquifers and how they behave are determined by:• Geology of the place• Other Ecological characteristics – terrain, topography, watershed, rainfall

• Land-use changes we effect• Use of water from the aquifer & discharge of our waste-water

Bengaluru Geology

Bengaluru : Geology

Will not hold water

Will hold water

Bengaluru : What we broadly know

Randullabad: Conceptual model

Aquifer storage: 67200 m3

Aquifer storage: 1170200 m3

Aquifer storage: 50000 m3

Aquifer mapping: The understanding we could get to…

…if you participate and share your stories, data, practices with the cityYou have to become a part of the process of mapping the

aquifer….

Eg 1: Data about your borewell

Eg 2: Your water quality stories…

A Platform to make this easy

Share your data and stories on this platform.

How can we make this platform useful to all of us ?

Thank you