Towards a water-smart India

With the onset of monsoon rains this year, a lesser-known but profoundly significant initiative has quietly taken root across the country’s ecologically sensitive terrains, a first-ever national census of springs. Piloted in Manipur and expected to scale across the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), this initiative represents not just a hydrogeological mapping exercise, but a paradigm shift in India’s approach to water sustainability.

Springs are natural outflows of groundwater and have historically served as the primary water source for millions in the IHR, which spans 10 hill states and 4 hill districts of Assam and West Bengal. According to the 2018 NITI Aayog report titled “Inventory and Revival of Springs in the Himalayas for Water Security,” over 3 million of India’s estimated 5 million springs are found in the Himalayas alone.

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More than 60 per cent of rural Himalayan communities rely on these springs for drinking, irrigation, and livestock use. Yet, alarming evidence suggests that nearly 50 per cent of these perennial springs have dried up or becomes easonal due to unregulated land use, deforestation, and climate-induced variability in rainfall. The Government of Manipur, in collaborating with the North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), the Water Resources Department, and the Ministry of Jal Shakti, has initiated a state-wide census and digital mapping of over 2,900 springs.

Using remote sensing and geospatial technologies, this effort will generate a detailed hydrological and get agged inventory of each spring, including data on seasonal discharge variability, quality indices, and dependence levels. This will not only inform micro-level conservation strategies but also create an open-access national database aligned with India’s commitments under SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

Springs are often misunderstood in conventional water management, which prioritizes engineered infrastructure like dams, canals, and borewells. However, springs are the visible tips of vast, often fragile, mountain aquifers. These aquifers, unlike plains aquifers, are highly heterogeneous and largely governed by the fractured rock systems of the Himalayas. Spring discharge depends on rainfall infiltration, subsurface storage, and the geological structures that allow water to re-emerge at specific discharge points.

Unlike surface watersheds , these “springsheds” do not adhere to surface topography alone, they follow underground hydrological pathways that may cut across administrative and even watershed boundaries. This complex interplay makes traditional watershed approaches insufficient. Instead, the concept of “springshed management” has emerged as a more scientifically valid approach. First pioneered through the Dhara Vikas programme by the Rural Management & Development Department (RM&DD) of Sikkim, this method uses an eight- stepprotocol : from community-based mapping and hydrogeological characterization to recharge structure design, social governance mechanisms, and impact monitoring.

The programme successfully rejuvenated over 700 springs, augmented recharge by over 900 million litres annually, and achieved this at an estimated cost of one paisa per litre, a remarkable return on public investment. Sp rings are fundamentally monsoon – dependent , being recharged by seasonal rainfall. But with climate models projecting increased rainfall intensity and reduced temporal spread in the Himalayas, recharge efficiency is being compromised. A 10-minute high-intensity storm leads to more runoff and erosion than recharge, this is a recipe for aquifer collapse.

According to WIHG and IIT Roorkee, spring discharge in parts of Almora has reduced by over 60 per cent over the past century. Thus, the key is not just more rain but better rain management. This brings us to the concept of sponge cities, a revolutionary model that can be merged with springshed rejuvenation to address both urban and rural water security. Originally developed in China and now being piloted in India by Smart City Missions (Bhubaneswar, Indore, and Bengaluru), sponge cities utilize green infrastructure – permeable pavements, bioswales, rain gardens, and urban wetlands to absorb, purify, and store rainwater.

This not only mitigates floods but also recharges shallow aquifers. Imagine applying these principles upstream in spring recharge zones, particularly peri-urban and hilly areas where urbanization is encroaching on aquifer recharge zones. Combining springshed management with sponge city principles can enhance infiltration, reduce pollution, and ensure long-term spring discharge even in the face of climate volatility. To operationalize this integration, the following roadmap is proposed:

1 Scale up the spring census from Manipur to all 10 Himalayan states using Survey of India base maps, linked to a centralized database.

2 Include springshed management in AMRUT 2.0 and Smart Cities as a green infrastructure module, particularly in towns like Shimla, Mussoorie, and Shillong where springs are urban lifelines.

3 Train para-hydrogeologists under Skill India programme to bridge the knowledge gap between scientific experts and local communities.

4 Leverage existing schemes such as MGNREGA, Jal Jeevan Mission, and CAMPA funds for recharge structure construction and springshed protection.

5 Develop a national digital atlas of springs, hosted by nodal department, integrating citizen science apps for data entry and real-time monitoring.

6 Pursue integrated Nature-based Solutions (NbS)/ Ecosystem based Solutions (EbS) financing from national and international sources to implement cross-border Himalayan Spring revival initiatives. India’s spring census is more than a data-gathering exercise, it is the start of a movement that sees water not just as a resource, but as a commons rooted in place, community, and culture. In an age of hydrological uncertainty and climatic flux, restoring our springs can anchor our water future in ecological wisdom and scientific foresight.

The writer is a freelance researcher on Water Resources Management, Climate Change & Disaster Risk Resilience, and a former employee of TERI and NDMA.