The Kaveri delta is situated at the mouth of the 800 km-long Kaveri river. This delta, also known as the ‘rice bowl of southern India’, is composed of a complex network of distributaries that support an ancient irrigation system and an intensively cultivated landscape.

Today, it faces numerous anthropogenic and natural threats, like reduced surface flows, saltwater intrusion, and high-amplitude cyclones. These environmental changes are coupled with socio-economic issues like the propagation of commercial shrimp farming at the cost of agricultural land, rising unemployment, and the continued oppression of landless labourers.

As the delta is placed at the heart of the transboundary conflict over water sharing, and is characterised by a 2000-year old canal irrigation network, much of the discourse on water management here is focussed on surface water. In reality, it is groundwater which sustains the rice bowl of southern India, and changes in this resource are closely linked to natural and environmental issues plaguing the region.

Different actors understand and act on groundwater differently, producing socio-material changes, affecting power relations in society. This research probes groundwater knowledges, hydrogeological flows and politics to understand how groundwater shapes the landscape and society of the Kaveri delta.

PhD researcher: Tanvi Agrawal

Within the landscape of studying rivers from a commons perspective, deltas can be seen as microcosms of the ‘hydrosociety’ at large. At the same time, they are regarded as highly vulnerable geographies that need special focus. Technocratic delta management strategies to ‘keep the water out’ have been largely unsuccessful and exclusionary, leading to the growing recognition of the need to learn to live with water in more inclusive and sustainable ways.

With an intention of exploring the challenges and possibilities for delta governance, this research focusses on the Kaveri delta, situated at the mouth of the 800km-long Kaveri river in Southern India. The project pays particular attention to groundwater which has hitherto been rendered invisible by the surface-water focussed water management regime.

As in any settled geography, there are several stakeholders of the delta, with varying understandings of and aspirations for it. The power negotiations among these actors lead to infrastructural and governance interventions, which shape the water sinks and flows, in turn impacting the deltaic landscape and society.

Recognising that the story of water is determined by the variables that enact it, this research asks the question “what is the delta’s (ground)water”, as a prerequisite to thinking about how to manage it. This research explores how the interconnections among people, nature (particularly the hydrology of surface water, groundwater, rainwater, and seawater), and technology in the delta are translated through its multi-layered geography. Understanding this veritable palimpsest of spaces makes for opportunities to address these challenges and plan for the future in this complex multi-layered geography.