This document summarizes a presentation made on recommendations for ensuring water source sustainability as part of civil society consultations for India's 12th Five Year Plan. Key recommendations included protecting water source zones, augmenting sources through rainwater harvesting, surface storage and groundwater recharge, establishing strong institutions, and developing an overarching legal framework. Specific actions proposed establishing participatory water management frameworks and decentralized planning, implementation and monitoring of water sources. Reference points discussed included norms, roles and responsibilities, institutions, data collection, and factors important for protecting water sources.

1. Thematic GROUP: WATER
SOURCES
Civil Society Consultation on rural drinking water and sanitation
for the
Approach Paper to
Planning Commission’s
12th Five Year Plan
New Delhi, Dec 13-14, 2010
Facilitated by Arghyam & WaterAid
Presentation on recommendations to deal with water source sustainability. Presentation
made in Delhi on December 14, 2010 as a part of civil society consultations on the approach
paper to the 12th Five Year Plan. Facilitated by Arghyam and WaterAid. More details visit
www.arghyam.org

2. WATER SOURCE
Priorities
• Protection zones – from source to catchment
• Augmentation, with emphasis on RWH, surface storage
and groundwater recharge
• Institutions
• Overarching legal framework – with regard to
externalities
• Data and databases

3. Specificity
• Participatory normative water management
framework
• Decentralised design, planning,
implementation and monitoring - feedback

4. Reference points for discussion
• Norms / normative factors
• What is to be done?
• Who will do it - ?institutions??
• Financials
• Non-negotiables
• Sanctity protection

5. Water sources
• Protocol and responsibility:
(partly linked to financial outlay)
– Creating a source – lack of systematic process
– Existing sources – norms exist, but little in terms of
following them
• Zones of protection – quantitative and quality-related
• Critical and buffer zone demarcation
• Enabling “public” access versus encouraging
private/individual access – even wrt drinking water
sources

6. Institutions
• Institutions / collaborations / partnerships
required to move from source-centric to
resource-centric approach
• Recognition of traditional institutions as part
of the formal structure of institutions
• Role of para professionals and workers crucial
in the process of healthy institutional
partnerships

7. Data and data bases
• Quantities, quality and ‘qualitative’ data important
• Kinds of data – purposes of data
• Mapping important
• SCALE: VILLAGE-LEVEL, at least
• Strategies of using data for better decisions
• Accessibility and availability of data
• Panchayat monitoring and surveillance system of
DDWS – RELOOK AT THE PROCESSS – e.g. developing
professional capacities within…

8. Process of protection – important
factors
• Roles and responsibilities: village level groups (paraworkers),
‘recognition’ of such groups with ‘incentivisation’, Gramsabha to be
empowered more “legally”, Group grampanchayat issues wrt source
protection
• Finances: difficult to quantify, source protection – aspects in
programmes from forestry, MNREGA, Watersheds, Drinking Water
Programmes – separate allocation for the back and front ends to
source creation
• Time frames: highly variable, based on a variety of factors –
institutions, data, law, capacities, potential and existing WR
problems
• Challenges: location and situation specificities, traditional versus
new technology, mindset in certain sectors, information base
considered not important, commons versus individualism (access
tends to overides everything else)

9. Non-negotiables
• Water as a “commons”
• Respect the natural resource regime of an area
• Data availability and accessibility are critical for
water security plans
• Include involvement of all stakeholders –
especially women