Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Ganges Basin: Examining Barriers to Wider Implementation

You can now read a summary of this seminar and watch the recording here.

Socio-technological innovations are greatly needed to deal with extremes in hydrologic variability, which are being exacerbated by the effects of development and climate change.

Underground Transfer of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI) is a form of managed aquifer recharge that helps boost groundwater storage in depleted aquifers, while reducing seasonal flooding and building resilience to agricultural droughts. UTFI has been successfully piloted at the community level in the Ganges Basin and contributed towards district-level scaling through various Government of India programs. Although field experiences have been focused within the Ganges, the opportunities at the global scale have also been examined.

This NEXUS Gains webinar will provide an overview of UTFI concepts and evidence, and introduce the work underway to examine the barriers to wider implementation.

Speakers

Andrew Ross, Honorary Research Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Moderator

Paul Pavelic, Senior Researcher, International Water Management Institute, Lao PDR

Mohammad Faiz Alam and Navneet Sharma: International Water Management Institute, India

Gayathri Angou, MSc candidate, TU Delft and Wageningen University (AMS Institute)

Header image: A scientist measures the water collected from a pond created by underground transfer of floods for irrigation (UTFI). Photo by Prashanth Vishwanathan/IWMI.