Participatory groundwater management in peri-urban areas with informal water markets: Insights from a socio-hydrogeological case study in Jaipur, India

Abstract In many peri-urban areas of the Global South, formal water supply systems are insufficient. This gap is largely filled by a diverse informal water market and widespread informal water use, both of which depend heavily on groundwater. Peri-urban low-income communities are particularly affected. Research in such contexts requires participatory and interdisciplinary approaches. This paper aims to equip hydrogeologists with the knowledge needed to implement participatory management, thereby fostering deeper engagement with participatory methodologies and strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration. The findings are also intended to support NGOs in planning more comprehensive water projects by integrating hydrogeological considerations. Two low-income communities in peri-urban Jaipur, India, representing different hydrogeological, infrastructural, and socio-cultural conditions, were selected as study areas in cooperation with a local NGO. The study comprised four components: initial socio-hydrogeological assessments to gain baseline information; water workshops to raise awareness and exchange knowledge on groundwater; the recruitment and training of women assistants to teach a small group more advanced groundwater-related skills; and finally, the production of films to disseminate the results. The research demonstrated that the applied methods generated relevant insights and enabled the implementation of a participatory approach. However, future studies should engage more thoroughly with the literature on participatory methodologies, ideally in collaboration with social scientists experienced in such approaches. Despite these limitations, the study contributes to the growing field of participatory and socio-hydrogeological research and shows that these approaches can enhance groundwater awareness among local communities and NGOs while sensitizing hydrogeologists to the importance of inter- and transdisciplinary work.