Progress Report on

CITIZENS SCIENCE APPROACH FOR THE REVIVAL OF

DYING SPRING

Submitted to

Water for Welfare: An Uttarakhand Initiative

Alternate Hydro Energy Centre

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

By

Dr. Sumit Sen (P.I) Department of Hydrology

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Roorkee-247667, Uttrakhand, India

June, 2019

The proposed research focuses on a significant adaptive as well as technological innovation

for changing rainfall patterns and landuse/land cover changes to enhance the present Indian

Himalayan Region (IHR) groundwater (GW) resources in form of springs and use them

sustainably and equitably. The main component aims to establish demonstration model

through technological intervention and participatory action research method to collectively

develop and manage regenerated springs.

Objectives as stated in the project proposal:

1. Springshed development based on the geo-hydrological characterization of a Himalayan

spring.

2. Water quantity and quality monitoring in a selected Himalayan spring.

3. Establishing a successful model of community-based ground water management for

regenerating springs in the IHR.

Study Area:

Pauri Garhwal is a district of Uttarakhand state encompassing an area of 5230 km2 situated

between 29°45’N to 30°15’N latitude and 78°24’E to 79°23’E longitude. Nayyar, a major

tributary of Alaknanda drains this district. Sub-temperate to temperate climate exists with a

maximum of 25° C and a minimum of 1.3°C in the higher reaches. The average annual

rainfall is 2180 mm. The communities and schools in the villages Dasmeri, Pali, Bamoli,

Kyar and Must of this sub-watershed are mainly dependent on spring water for drinking and

domestic purposes. Tap water supply is also available but it is irregular and the villagers have

to depend upon springs especially during the lean season.

Dasmeri sub-watershed has an area of 904 ha. It is located in Dwarikhal block of district

Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand. In Dasmeri village, the community is mainly dependent on

spring water for drinking and domestic purposes. Tap water supply is also available but it is

irregular and the villagers have to depend upon springs. There are 4 natural springs but the

discharge ranges between 1 – 2.3 LPM. 70 households and 50 school children are dependent

on these springs. Geologically this village is mainly dominated by Phyllite in upper part and

fractured quartzite in middle and lower part of the village. Instrumentation has been done on

the spring, Jethuna Tok of Dasmeri village.

Figure 1: Location of instrumented spring (Jethuna Tok) in Haraita watershed

OBJECTIVE 1 - Springshed Development using Geo-hydrological characterization:

Rapid progression in the land-use intensification in the IHR has also increased the use of

groundwater for agriculture and related activites. Signs of acute water crises is evident in

most parts of the Himalayas. Apparent effects of aquifer storage decline, streams becoming

seasonal, reducing baseflows point toward the direction of future uncertainty in water

security. In simple words Geo-hydrology may be define simply as the study of water in the

subsurface inclusive of its physics, chemistry and ecological linkages.

Mountainous regions are made up of different variants of rocks. The ladforms define the

drainage systems of the watershed, the flow is determined by the nature of the surface of the

earth at a particular place as the shape of the landform itself maybe due to a particular

underlying geology and weathering processes hence a study of the relationship between the

landforms, slopes and the surface drainage in the watershed must be conducted

Figure 2: Stream network and geology of Haraita watershed (Courtesy – PSI LAB)

Different types of rocks in the area, the openings present between them and their altitude

govern the accumulation and movement of groundwater (Storativity and Transmissivity).

Hydro-geological studies have been undertaken alongside a local NGO partner – PSI,

Dehradun who have a firm experience of such surveys in the Indian Himalayan region. To

map the underlying geology, to understand the distribution and movement of groundwater in

the soil and rocks of the area and to demarcate the spring recharge area a team of field

experts, geologists and researchers conducted a planned geological survey of the area.

Figure 3: Geological cross-section of potential recharge area of spring in Dashmeri

Geological mapping was undertaken using toposheets of the area which are standard maps

prepared by GoI, describes the physical configurations of an area (slopes, contours, elevation

from MSL, village locations, roads, forests, railway lines etc.) and outcrop mapping was

conducted while maintaining a litholog all along. A representative map (figure 3) was

prepared which includes a representation of the lithology, structure of the underlying rocks

and their sequence within the potential recharge area of the watershed.

Table 1: Details About Spring Recharge Area

Recharge Area 3 ha

Slope 20-30%

Landuse Agricultural cultivated land

Soil depth 1.5 m

The survey revealed that the soil layer which was a much weathered system was immediately

underlain by fractured quartzite at higher altitude and subsequently by fractured phyllite. The

dips of lineaments (fracture planes) were observed using a compass clinometer. The fractures

have a dip inclining towards the spring which is aided by a very dense layer of quartzitic

phyllite underneath all through the 400 m extention of the potential recharge area. This

impermeable strata prevents water from percolating deep and directs it toward the spring

being monitored.

OBJECTIVE 2 – Water Quality Monitoring and Discharge Observation:

Instrumentation Details:

Rain gauge - Self-recoding tipping bucket type of rain gauge was used for the detail study

of rainfall pattern in our watershed. A tipping bucket rain gauge enabled with data logger was

installed at nearby location of spring. The Rain gauge was calibrated manually in Department

of Hydrology, Watershed laboratory.

Flume with water level recorder (WLR) - A 0.6-foot HS-flume with calibrated Odyssey

capacitance based water level sensor (Dataflow system Ltd.) was installed for measuring the

spring discharge. The water level sensor was installed inside the stilling well of the flume

(metal sheet fabrication). The recorded stage (flow depth) was converted to discharge using

the given formula.

𝑄 = −0.01047723 − 0.0220549𝐻𝑚0.5 + 17.34926614𝐻𝑚

1.5 + 360.8771555𝐻𝑚2.5

Where Q is discharge in L/S and Hm is flow depth in meter.

Figure 4: a) Tipping bucket rain gauge; b) Flume with WLR

Spring Discharge: Spring discharge observations started from the onset of Monsoon 2018. It

can be seen from Figure 5 that the maximum discharge of 1.6 L/sec is observed during peak

Monsoon season. After month of October very lean flow is observed in the spring but it

raised to 0.2 L/sec during winter rain. We have also conducted discrete water quality analysis

of the spring water and results are presented in Table-2.

Figure 5: Spring discharge hydrograph along with the rainfall characteristics

Table 2: Water quality parameters of spring, Jethuna Tok.

Date of Observation

pH TDS (ppm)

Fecal coliform

14-Jan-18 7.8 19 A

05-May-18 8.9 28 N.A.

02-Jun-18 8.8 30 N.A.

20-Jul-18 7.2 18 P

11-Aug-18 7.4 20 P

17-Sep-18 7.7 25 A

24-Sep-18 7.2 24 A

10-Oct-18 7.2 22 P

15-Oct-18 7.2 24 P

22-Oct-89 7.3 22 P

29-Oct-18 7.1 22 P

05-Nov-18 7.3 21 A

12-Nov-18 7.3 21 A

19-Nov-18 7.3 21 A

26-Nov-18 7.3 21 A

03-Dec-18 7.8 21 A

10-Dec-18 7.8 22 A

17-Dec-18 7.4 21 A

24-Dec-18 7.8 21 A

31-Dec-18 7.6 22 A

07-May-19 7.2 17 A

* NA- Not available. A-Absent, P- Present

OBJECTIVE 3 – Spring Rejuvenation using Watershed Treatment Measures:

Underground seepage will be regenerated through a combination of engineering, vegetative

and social measures like :

Trenching (SCT and CCT)

Small check dams/gully plugs

Diversion drains

Plantation of fuelwood, fodder, fruit trees and grass

Social fencing

We used the SCS-CN method to finalize the size and number of recharge pit by calculating

the total runoff volume using peak monsoon precipitation records of 2018. We are awaiting

rainfall data to be collected in monsoon 2019 and after that, watershed treatment measures

will be commenced (Construction of recharge pits, trenches, vegetative measures, etc.). A

conceptual layout of a typical spring-recharge area system can be visulized from figure 4

below.

Figure 4: Conceptual layout of Spring recharge area (Courtesy – ACWADAM)

Table 2: Surface Runoff estimation, Potential recharge area, Jethuna Tok.

Spring Depth of soil

Land cover

Slope Coefficient of runoff (C)

Max Rainfall intensity (I), mm hr-1

Area (A), km2

Peak discharge (m3 s-1)

Accumulated runoff depth (mm) (20th July - 8th September)

Runoff Volume, VR (m3)

Jethuna Tok

1.5 m Agriculture cultivated land

20-30% 0.52 73 0.03 1.14 393.17 11795.1

Expected outcomes of spring rejuvenation by springshed development (to be taken up

this year):

Reduced Peak Flow

Increased Base Flow

Reduced Lean Flow Period

Household Water Security

Higher Plant Survival Rate

Increased biomass production

Increased Fodder Availability

Improved Water Quality

Increased Life of Downstream Storage Structures