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Groundwater and water conservation

Groundwater and water conservation: the assessments that grade India's aquifers, the rules on drawing water, and the schemes that recharge wells and harvest rain. Prelims has asked about the Central Ground Water Authority and which body was constituted under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Foundation note: Groundwater: the assessment, the four grades and who may regulate a well

All 5 articles shown; the 1 that changed from 1 to 30 September 2026 are marked.Show only these

Dynamic Ground Water Resources Assessment

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Prelims and Mains

The Dynamic Ground Water Resources Assessment is the Central Ground Water Board's yearly stocktaking of groundwater with the States, made unit by unit rather than for the country as a whole.

  • An aquifer is emptied locally and refilled locally, so a comfortable national average could hide a district drawing more than it recharges.
  • Each unit is graded safe, semi critical, critical or over exploited by its stage of groundwater extraction.

What changed

  1. 10 Aug 2026New

    • The 2025 Assessment put the stage of groundwater extraction at 60.63 per cent for India as a whole.
    • Irrigation takes 87 per cent of what is extracted.
    • Extraction runs above the national average in nine States and Union Territories, among them Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.

    PIB, 10 Aug 2026: Groundwater assessment 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari

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Prelims and Mains

Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB), launched in September 2024, builds low cost artificial recharge structures with the community as their owner.

  • Where a unit is drawing more than it recharges, the cheapest response is to lead rainwater back underground, and that is work a village can do for itself.
  • It pays for that work and leaves the structure with the community that built it.
  • It is guided by the 3Cs of Community, Corporate Social Responsibility and Cost.
  • It merged with Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain in June 2026.
  • Models from the States include Chhattisgarh's Aawa Paani Jhoki, Andhra Pradesh's ridge to valley treatment and Odisha's rooftop rainwater harvesting.
  • Structure counts measure effort rather than outcome, so aquifer levels and demand side measures are the test of it.

What changed

  1. 3 Sep 2026

    • More than 1.58 crore recharge structures had been built in its first two years.

    PIB, 3 Sep 2026: Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari: From Local Action to Water Security (opens in a new tab)

Atal Bhujal Yojana

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Prelims and Mains

Atal Bhujal Yojana was a central scheme for community led groundwater management in water stressed blocks of seven States, in which every gram panchayat prepared a water budget and a water security plan.

What changed

  1. 30 Jul 2026New

    • The scheme closed on 15 October 2025 and will not continue as a central scheme.
    • The government calls it a completed pilot for States to replicate.

    Mains: it is the evidence that community water budgeting on the demand side can lift water tables.

    PIB, 30 Jul 2026: Implementation and Impact of Atal Bhujal Yojana (opens in a new tab)

Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0

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Prelims and Mains

The Jal Jeevan Mission is the central scheme for a functional tap water connection to every rural household.

  • Each household is to get 55 litres a person a day of water meeting the Bureau of Indian Standards specification IS 10500.
  • JJM 1.0 built pipes and taps; JJM 2.0 shifts to sustained service of adequate quantity and prescribed quality, under reform linked memoranda with the States.
  • Village Water and Sanitation Committees run in village supply, and district missions certify Panchayats.

Who runs rural water under JJM 2.0

  1. State Water and Sanitation Mission

    Signs the reform linked MoU and sets the State's policy for operation and maintenance

  2. District Water and Sanitation Mission

    Prepares Village Action Plans and certifies Gram Panchayats as capable

  3. Gram Panchayat and Village Water and Sanitation Committee

    Runs in village supply as a service of adequate quantity and prescribed quality

The second phase hands the running of rural water down to the Gram Panchayat, with the district certifying that it can.Source: PIB, 2 June 2026

What changed

  1. 27 Jul 2026

    • The Cabinet has extended the mission to December 2028 and raised the total outlay from ₹3.60 lakh crore to ₹8.69 lakh crore.
    • As on 18 July 2026 about 82 per cent of rural households had tap water, against about 17 per cent in August 2019.

    PIB, 27 Jul 2026: 15.89 Crore Rural Households Connected to Functional Household Tap Connections Under JJM (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 30 Jul 2026: WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT UNDER JAL JEEVAN MISSION (opens in a new tab)

  2. 16 Jun 2026BriefUnder the 16th Finance Commission, 50 per cent of basic grants to local bodies are tied to water and sanitation. Completion of Gram Panchayat Development Plans by 15 August 2026 is a condition for release, and panchayats fund maintenance through user charges. PIB, 16 Jun 2026: DDWS Organises 9th District Collectors' Peyjal Samvad (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 25 Jun 2026: Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation hosted the 8th edition of Sujal Gram Samvad (opens in a new tab)

Punjab's paddy and its groundwater

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Prelims and Mains

Paddy is a water hungry kharif crop: in Punjab it needs about 25 to 30 irrigation cycles a season.

  • It has assured procurement at the minimum support price, timely payment, free electricity for irrigation and a mandi network, which cotton and maize lack.
  • So with total kharif area fixed, area vacated by other crops moves to paddy.
  • Nearly 80 per cent of Punjab's groundwater blocks are overexploited.
  • A legume such as groundnut fixes nitrogen through root nodules, saving urea for the next crop.

Spring maize versus spring groundnut

Spring maizeSpring groundnut
Irrigations12 to 193 to 6
Duration90 to 100 days110 to 115 days
Soil effectnonefixes nitrogen, breaks pest cycles
Groundnut needs a fraction of the water spring maize draws in Punjab's hottest months, and leaves nitrogen in the soil for the next crop.Source: The Indian Express, 6 June 2026

What changed

  1. 14 Jun 2026New

    • Punjab's 2026 paddy area is expected to match or exceed its record, while cotton area fell to its lowest ever.
    • Transplanting began on 1 June under a staggered three zone schedule to cut peak power demand and conserve groundwater.
    • The High Court struck down the State's ban on hybrid paddy, holding that seeds notified under the Seeds Act, 1966 cannot be barred administratively.
    • Hybrids yield more and mature in 125 to 130 days, saving water and giving time for stubble management.
    • But seed must be bought each season, and millers allege outturn below the 67 per cent minimum.

    Mains: The dispute sets productivity and water saving against seed dependence and procurement norms, and needs a science based, transparent policy.

    The Indian Express, 3 Jun 2026: Why Punjab could see record paddy cultivation despite repeated diversification drives (opens in a new tab) · The Indian Express, 14 Jun 2026: Why hybrid paddy continues to divide Punjab's agricultural community (opens in a new tab)

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