Participatory Groundwater Management ft Himanshu Kulkarni | Water Data Podcast

Описание: In this episode of The Water Data Podcast, host Veena Srinivasan (https://scholar.google.com/citations?... ) speaks with Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni(https://www.researchgate.net/profile/... ), hydrogeologist and co-founder of ACWADAM, about groundwater science in India – from basalt aquifers and rural irrigation to springshed revival in the Himalayas and participatory groundwater management.

This episode was recorded in November 2025 on the sidelines of a two-day event celebrating the life and work of Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni, marking his recognition with the 2025 International Water Prize by the University of Oklahoma. Because the conversation was long and deeply insightful, we’re releasing it in two parts – this is Part 2.

In this episode, Dr. Kulkarni explains how participatory groundwater management (PGWM) evolved in India, and why aquifers must be treated as common pool resources. He shares field-based examples of PGWM “models” in practice — from borewell bans and drinking water protection zones to borehole pooling and crop planning. He also reflects on the biggest external forces shaping groundwater outcomes, especially energy policy and market incentives.

Through this conversation, he explains why urban groundwater remains “hidden”, and why cities must treat recharge as a public service, not just an individual mandate. Finally, he highlights the major unanswered questions in groundwater today — contamination and depletion — and why groundwater science will always remain a field science.

The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Srinivasan.

For all references and further readings related to the episode, visit https://welllabs.org/wdp-himanshu-kul...

Subscribe to The Water Data Podcast on your favourite podcast app – and catch video episodes on the WELL Labs YouTube channel @welllabs

Recording by Vedant Ambrule and Tippana Chaitanya.
Video editing by Nabina Chakraborty.
Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar and Kanishka Goyal.
Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode.
Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.

Chapter Timestamps
00:00 Highlights
00:51 Introduction
03:28 Participatory Groundwater Management (PGWM) Journey
7:08 Early PGWM Experiments and Partnerships
10:28 Plurality in PGWM Models Across India
15:54 Decentralisation and democratisation of Knowledge
22:44 Check out the video episode
22:59 Atal Bhujal Yojana and examples of PGWM
25:45 Rethinking scale and market externalities
35:12 Efficiency in Groundwater and Traditional Wisdom
44:30 Like, subscribe, and share
44:50 Urban aquifers
50:30 Groundwater Quality and Contamination Challenges
52:19 Future of Groundwater Science
55:42 Closing Reflections

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