Water resources in India are under stress due to increasing population, intensified agricultural production, industrial development, changing food habits with growing income as well as pollution of the surface and subsurface waters. Climate change aggravates the issue with higher temperatures, longer droughts, increased rainfall intensity, and a reduced number of rainy days during the monsoon season. This further leads to concerns related to water demand for food and nutritional security of the growing population and the protection of the ecosystem.

Rajasthan, a semi-arid state, is highly vulnerable as it has only 1% of India’s water resources despite covering the country’s 10% of the total geographical area (Rajras, n.d.). The state has seen an increased rate of urbanization over the past few decades. The city of Udaipur receives the second largest number of tourists (16% of the total tourist influx in the state) after Jaipur (21%) in the state, leading to increased pressure on water resources in the city. The water supply for the residents of the city comes from five surface lakes, which contribute 88% of the water supply followed by other local sources (HBF & DA, 2018). The Ahar River in Udaipur is contaminated due to diverted untreated wastewater into rivers and lakes, causing environmental and health problems (Williams, Kookana, Mehta, et al. 2018). Thus, the Udaipur district is facing serious problems and challenges in securing an adequate quality water supply and mitigating pollution from water resources.

What is citizen science and why is it necessary?

Citizens’ and stakeholders’ participation in the management of the surface and groundwater resources is paramount; however, it is limited in the region (Mangal & Pathania, 2015; Deccan Chronicle, 2022). Citizen science is an emerging discipline that can help in mitigating the water crisis in the region. The Oxford dictionary defines the term ‘citizen science’ as a ‘scientific work undertaken by the members of the public, often in collaboration with or under the direction of professional scientists and scientific institutions. Citizen science contributes to community-driven governance of water resources. The term was first used by Alan Irwin in 1994 (Irwin & Vergragt, 1994). It is very much similar and yet different from community engagement/participation/mobilization. One similarity between the two is that both encourage public engagement with a focus on awareness generation and conservation of natural resources, biodiversity, etc. Citizen science is one step ahead as it involves citizens in hands-on experience to collect scientific data, making community engagement more effective. In other words, citizen science is more data-driven than earlier community engagement methodologies. Also, it is a tool to improve data collection through crowdsourcing of data in data-scarce catchments. This approach helps in the capacity building of citizens and enhances their knowledge related to efficient and sustainable water management.

Our ongoing initiatives

To address the water crisis in Udaipur, we are implementing a project in the city, which is based on ‘Citizen Science’ with support from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – DANIDA (Danish International Development Agency) Fellowship Center. This is a consortium-based study involving various partners including the University of Copenhagen, Geological Survey of Denmark, Greenland, DHI (Danish Hydrological Institute), and Vidya Bhawan Polytechnic College. The study aims to improve the basis for Developing Sustainable Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Ahar River basin of the Udaipur district. This involves citizens especially students as they are the most vulnerable group to get affected by climate change.

As part of the intervention, a ‘Citizen Science Network’ has been formed after building rapport with various institutions through webinars, workshops, and in-person interactions. The network includes 25 institutions that fall under the Ahar River basin (upper, middle, and lower). A group of 10–15 students of classes 9–12 of each of these institutions is currently being trained to collect scientific data on five major parameters for Integrated water resource assessment, namely:

1. Rainfall measurement – to analyze the rainfall trends throughout the city as well as to compare them with past rainfall trends. This activity enables citizens to estimate the rainwater harvesting potential of the area.

2. Water quality testing – includes training students on eight parameters, which are: a) pH; b) TDS; c) temperature;
   d) dissolved oxygen; e) hardness; f) fluoride; g) chloride;
   h) nitrates. These parameters are used to test pre- and post-monsoon samples in the selected institutions. Also, students can conduct water quality testing for other water samples in their institution’s vicinity.

3. Well monitoring – to assess groundwater fluctuations during pre- and post-monsoon. It also includes focused group discussions with communities to understand ground
   water situations.

4. Assessing the health of water bodies – to identify the sources of pollution and the level of contamination while showcasing the factors responsible for the water bodies’ pollution.

5. Behavioral change for sustainable and climate-resilient water management.

Way forward

• Integrating the Citizen Science Learning toolkit for IWRM into the school curriculum. This toolkit is a learning guide for students on managing the country's water resources to enable a climate- resilient and sustainable future.

• Data generation, validation, and sharing the data with decision-makers for a potential policy change.

• Creating linkages between the Citizen Science Network and government authorities.

• Institutional mechanism to be set up for the sustainability of the Citizen Science Network.

Williams, M., Kookana, R., Mehta A., Yadav S., Tailor B. L., Maheshwari, B. 2018. Emerging contaminants in a river receiving untreated wastewater from an Indian urban centre. Details available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326875829_Emerging_contaminants_in_a_river_receiving_untreated_wastewater_from_an_Indian_urban_centre, last accessed on 10 October, 2022