Innovation for a water-wise rural India

World Water Week 2023 was held from 20–24 August. The theme, Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World, invites us to rethink how we manage water — and the ideas, innovations, and governance systems we need in an increasingly unstable and water-scarce world.

Dr. Ajita Tiwari Padhi, Senior Specialist-NbS and Resilience at the ICC, writes about one such innovative solution: Jaltol, a strategic tool that makes water management easier for rural communities, which the ICC has developed in partnership with WELL Labs. Jaltol was presented at the World Water Week, 2023.

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report’s regional fact sheet for Asia, including India, states that monsoons are likely to increase (and increasingly vary) year on year, and droughts are likely to occur between 2 and 4 times every 10 years (source: CSEI). Rainfed farmers will therefore be at a very high risk during the drought years. In a world of simultaneous excess and scarcity, water budgeting and management will be crucial for rural communities to assess their water availability; only then can they use their water efficiently, sustainably, equitably, and in a way that helps them improve or retain their productivity and sustain livelihoods.

Despite financial resource flows, it is difficult to solve local water challenges without understanding how much water is available — and how much is being used for what purpose and by whom. We realised we needed to enhance our metric for success from ‘total amount spent on watershed activities, where today’s tools may suffice’, to ‘money well spent’ to ensure long-term sustainability.

We wanted to know what data, maps, and digital tools communities and civil society organisations (CSOs) use. What is their actual on-ground usage and what challenges do they face in making scientifically and hydrologically robust rural water security plans?

Listening to and learning from CSOs’ experiences and the challenges they were facing, the ICC partnered with WELL Labs to co-create Jaltol in close collaboration with CSOs. Over the past two years, this tool has evolved from a water budgeting tool (Ver 1.0) to a comprehensive data analytics tool for water management (towards Ver 3.0). With this, decision makers in the rural water security planning processes can get accurate data, estimate water budgets, and make informed decisions for use and storage — making water management easier, including behavioural shifts.