Water Literacy Foundation

My name is Ayyappa Masagi, also fondly called as Water Gandhi by villagers in Peninsular India. In the last 30 years, I have directly recharged 2.5lac borewells, constructed 900 lakes, done 321 RWH for apartments and 189 for industries. I have provided RWH for 233 institutions and above 30K for individual houses. I have converted above 40,000 hectares of dryland into wetland and carried out projects worth $1.2bnUSD.   I began the Water Literacy Foundation in the past 4 years which was a culmination of my travels to remote corners of water scarce parts of peninsular India to make farmers water-literate. I demonstrated Water on Wheel’s success stories through videos and lectures, telling people how rainwater can end water poverty. I have trained 100 community water warriors who are second in line of leadership akin to a hub and spoke model. 

The State of Karnataka in southern India has 2000+ villages which are facing acute shortages in drinking water. 23 out of 33 districts faced a drought last year. To solve this issue I propose a bottom-up approach by training the local community and making them water literate.
1. WLFwants to democratise the know-how of RWH , concepts of energy economics, agroforestry, less growth and more resilient ecosystems and design sustainable solutions which can be maintained in the long run.
2. The proposed project is doable in one state in India, but it is scaling this to many more geographies and solve the international problem which is the extended idea behind this project.
3. We, at WLF believe that the basic sounding principles of water harvesting can be applied as much in Kenya as in Australia. Hence, our methodology can solve the water crisis of other countries.

Coverage on Media

Water Literacy Foundation is trying to solve the problem of drinking and agricultural water shortage in rural villages within India. Since I have started working as a water warrior, I have helped villages in 14 states across the nation in learning water harvesting techniques. 

Water scarcity in rural India affects about 800 million people who are dependent on farming for their livelihood and subsistence. 

As only 6-7% annual rainfall makes it into groundwater supplies, we want to be able to increase this to at least 20% of the annual rainfall, since that will be enough for the farmers’ yearly requirement. We believe in maintaining a balance of water usage and replenishment.

Our motto is, that there is enough water for everybody as long as each drop that falls is collected and saved. Our training center, at Jalasamriddhi is a living example that our methodology works. 

Water Warrior

Holavanahalli Model Farm - Water Literacy Foundation
1. I want to invite farmers from water scarce villages in Karnataka to my training center called Jalasamruddhi and Thadroopi Kadu (our agroforest), at WLF Campus and teach them water harvesting techniques and make them Water Warriors. 

2. Like a Hub & Spoke model, these Warriors shall then apply these sustainable water harvesting techniques to their own land and spread the knowledge to surrounding villages. 

3. I propose that like a domino-effect these techniques shall spread across the 2000+ villages facing acute shortage of water in Karnataka, and over the next 5 years they will have their aquifers filled, groundwater recharged and healthy soil. 

4. I want to spread this message to all parts of India and the world which are currently going through a water scarce situation. Since my farm is in a drought ridden condition with semi-arid soil, if my methods have worked here, they can work anywhere and everywhere. 

1. My project serves villagers farming on semi-arid/arid and water scarce land in rural Karnataka. I want them to become self-sufficient around their water requirements. The soil in these geographies is very similar to the soil composition at Jalasamruddhi. 

2. It took us approximately 5 years to make Jalasamruddhi what it is today, an absolutely self-sufficient water ecosystem which uses less water than it replenishes annually. Farmers facing acute shortage of water in their villages understand the true threat to the ground water and hence have been the strong pillars on which Jalasamruddhi has been founded. 

3.When we create one water catchment area/a dam (of capacity 20million litres) we are able to replenish water for about 2 square KMs from that watershed/dam. Hence, even if one farm is using our methodology, the entire village will have better water harvesting probability. 

4. We are using below the surface and subsurface water absorption techniques so that the arable land of the farm does not decrease and the farmer can overcome the fear of the land being taken away. Besides, our training farm, Jalasamruddhi is founded in a water scarce/arid land, just like the land of these farmers. 

I have been an inspiration enough to be called Water Gandhi of my country. My solutions have been applied to 100+ villages, more than 14 states, 30K households and 300+ educational institutions. I have directly affected the lives of 2 million people and indirectly, 3 million. I have a booming farming ecosystem to show as a live example for the success of my techniques. Since I have understand stakeholder cooperation, I know how to find financially viable solutions to real problems. We spread awareness across colleges, schools, apartment complexes, industries, companies and rural villages. 

 Water Doctor Ayyappa Masagi from Karnataka

20 years back, I purchased a 6-acre land in Veerapur near Gajendragada, an area notorious for drought. I bought the land to conduct an agricultural experiment. For the first three years it yielded a very good crop, however, for the next three years there was consecutive drought. All borewells dried up, the areca-nut farm was lost and the land became barren. In the 7th year it rained so heavily that my hut was washed away. I had to seek refuge on a tree and spent the whole night there. While I was on the tree, I could see the situation from a distance. Due to the heavy rain, huge quantities of water was  gushing in, almost like a small river on my farm. I wondered about how my borewell was dry, there was water all around me. And it was then that the water conservation idea struck my mind. I thought, why am I not diverting this water into the dry borewell? This incident gave me sleepless nights. I built dams and created landworks such that I succeeded in recharging the borewell. My next thoughts were: Why shouldn’t I spread this message? In that year, I started “Jala Saksharatha Andolan”.

I grew up in a village with a severe water crisis. During my childhood, there was always a shortage of drinking water during the summer. My mother and I would fetch water from the dried-stream bed close to my village, where people had dug out the sand from the ground to a depth of 20ft. Since the crevice was tiny, only small children could fit into the hole and bring the water out. It was a rather dangerous situation because if the structure collapsed while a child was inside, they would end up getting buried alive. It would be a nightly routine for my mother and I, to risk my life to bring water out for our family. I can’t remember a time when I have not been a part of this routine, until I became too big to enter the pit. When I joined my degree college, I promised to myself that once I was free from my familial responsibilities I would solve this water problem. 30 years back I gave up my job and started finding bottom-up solutions to India’s growing water crisis. With each passing decade, as the crisis deepened, my resolve has only strengthened. 

I have 30 years of real life experience dealing and working with water harvesting techniques. Through Jal Samruddhi, I can confidently say that the methodology of rainwater and grey water harvesting and replenishment that I suggest works. I understand the depth of stakeholder expectation and how to manage them. My sense of financial cost reduction is very strong helping me find solutions which are financially viable for our farmer community. 

1. After quitting from L&T in the late 80s as a Program Manager I bought a small farm for myself to do agricultural experiments. Here I understood my first iteration of rainwater harvesting techniques. 

2. In the next 10 years I converted villages across Karnataka and made them water sufficient - namely - Holavanahalli, Tumkuru, Madhikeri and many others. 

3. Then I started travelling to urban spaces, apartments, was invited to educational institutions and government programs to spread the message of RWH 

4. Finally, after 26 years, I formulated the Water Literacy Foundation in the hopes of helping society in fighting back the water crisis by creating water resilient ecosystems. 

I am a passionate leader with deep understanding of rainwater harvesting and grey water harvesting systems. I have created dams, lakes, recharged borewells, replenished ground water levels and developed multiple agro-forests. 

If at the age of 62, I can lead and train people, I believe many water warriors can take my message forward and spread it across the globe. I  believe simply talking and not doing is not life. 

Anantgram is a 124 acre farm in Anantapur Dist, Andhra Pradesh. It is a dryland area with drought-like conditions and only an inch of recorded rainfall in a year. Mr. Graham Brookman, a permaculture instructor from Australia asked the owners of Anantgram to contact WLF. WLF spearheaded the water project and designed a water harvesting plan for the farm and the neighbouring rural community. An earthen dam was built to hold up to 20 million litres of water and was completed in the year 2019. The dam does not only help Anantgram farm but also communities around it to an area of 2 sq. km. It has been observed that even after a scanty rainfall the dam overflows and borewells get recharged. In a drought-prone area, the dam is a demonstration of the connected environment. Today the lives of people there are healthier and the economic system is rising gradually with an increase in agricultural produce and diversity. The area has an abundance of water that local agriculturists are using with water-intensive crops and successful paddy cultivation. 

 I began my career as a water conservationist with very little money in my pocket. Despite financial problems, I have managed to guide farmers, university students, and community leaders in understanding my methodology. I have gained the support and trust of more than 2 million farmers. One such example: I had gone to do a water conservation survey at a village called Aradeshanahalli, about 25 km  from Bangalore. On the way I stopped at a house around the highway and asked the owner for some drinking water. The owner was kind enough to let me know she can provide me water for washing but not for drinking. It seemed that she had to walk for 3KMs to bring the water for the family.  Upon research I got to know that the water was non potable in that village. I took this as a challenge and made it potable in one season. It was not an effort on my part alone, the entire village was involved in this work. People were inspired by my resolve. Even the media channels were very appreciative. It was the first time I had been on national television because of my work in community water harvesting. 

NA

1. WLF believes in a bottom-up approach which means that we want to democratize the knowledge about water literacy and create water warriors from the community which is most affected by water scarcity. 
2. Do first, preach later - our model farm Jala Samruddhi uses all of the water harvesting techniques that we advise to our water warriors. 
3. We do not believe in making complicated structures for rainwater harvesting but rely on perma-culture, agro-forestry, resilience and sustainable food production. 

1. There is a continued water crisis that India is facing at the moment. Leave alone water for irrigation, large chunks of the country do not even have water for drinking and cooking. Water Literacy Foundation wants to change to change this reality in a simple way - by balancing the water usage with water replenishment.
2. If the community has shortage of drinking water, then rain water and grey water harvesting technology can eliminate the water crisis. We have several rainwater harvesting techniques like bore well, stream recharge, non irrigation-agriculture and earthen dams. We also have one house infiltration for both urban and rural spaces. Research has proven that this is the way forward if one has to replenish rainwater. We must make water the backbone of our systemic thinking to fight climate change. 
3. If every drop of rainwater and grey water is properly harvested then it will stop depleting ground water level and make more fresh water available. 
4. If you watch the interviews provided on my channel you will be able to see that the work I have put together in the last 30 years has brought about numerous change in rural Karnataka. 
5. I have been awarded multiple awards and honors for the work that I have done. 

1. Currently, my project has served about 2 million people directly and 3 million people indirectly. 

2. In the next one year I am aiming to serve another 10 million people. 

3. In the next 5 years I am aiming to serve about 50 million people. 

4. I have conducted 9000+ programs on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Literacy, I have written 7+ books, I have founded Water Literacy Foundation and built a boosting ecosystem like Jala Samruddhi. 

1. Over the next one year I want to raise funds for my project - to increase water sustainability in the water scarce areas of rural Karnataka. My primary fund raisers would be industries and CSR funds of corporate companies. 

2. In the following 4 years I am planning to train water warriors coming from those 2000+ villages across rural Karnataka which are going through a very severe drought like condition. 

3. Once this project is complete, I am going to raise more funds and try to start working district by district in the other states in India which are facing severe water crisis. 

Thankfully, I have all sorts of support in my journey. I have never come across any technical, legal or cultural or even market barries that might cause me trouble in finding my path. 
In the recent years I have repeatedly come across one barrier and that is a political barrier. If one has worked with political systems, they often times do not want problems to get solved. Problems are a source of political gain and money, hence many times if they get solved then those two consequences do not arise. In my journey of water literacy, I have only come across barriers from political leaders during my struggle. Not all, but some political leaders. 

I am hoping to over power political leaders by popular opinion. I want to be able to take my message of Water Literacy to such an extent nationally and globally that I then do not have to fear the lack of support of political leaders. 
Besides, I want to train so many water warriors that then there is not just me, but thousands of people like me who are willing to end the water problems of the world. This has been my dream since the last 30 years of my life. 
In todays world, media can make things easier for people to do and bring the spotlight onto those who are causing an issue in making things move forward. This will be my solution, since I am not an activist, I am a simple man. 

NGOs, Rotary Club, Apartment Complexes, Societies, Anantgram 
I partner with organizations in a collaborative framework. Where they hire my resources and I build water harvesting systems for them. These organizations belong to both urban and rural settings. But my fondest relationship in terms of organizations are with rural panchayats and farmers. I help them in making their village water sufficient, and train them to be their own water warriors. 

Our business model is a cost subsidy business model. This basically means that we devise the cost of our products and services based on the consumer and his ability to be able to pay. Say, if we are dealing with a farmer who wants to learn how to make earthworks on his farm, then we shall teach him the lessons of rain water harvesting or do the rainwater harvesting for him at a very low cost. 
Otherwise, if out customer is a corporate company, that we shall be putting together a detailed plan report keeping in mind how much this person can afford. 
This model allows us to provide alternatives and services to even those who do not have the money to pay us for our knowledge, training and other services.  

Our path to financial sustainability is the goodwill of society and the availability of CSR initiatives. We shall continue to raising funds to train the farmers and conduct the water literacy foundation's work.

We raised funds for our projects from CSR Initiatives. The 100+ villages that we have helped in rainwater harvesting techniques were all covered through the various CSR initiatives taken by corporate companies. The idea is that we do a survey of a village in terms of their water requirements and current condition, based on the survey we chart out a plan for a CSR organization. 
A detailed plan report is sent to the CSR company, and based on whether they approve or disapprove - our project gets funding. In the last 12 months we received funding worth 90 lacs - all were CSR projects from various companies. Like for example, for this year we have two different projects - one from Chennai worth 40lacs and another from Chikmaglur worth 10 lacs. 

We raised funds for our projects from CSR Initiatives. The 100+ villages that we have helped in rainwater harvesting techniques were all covered through the various CSR initiatives taken by corporate companies. The idea is that we do a survey of a village in terms of their water requirements and current condition, based on the survey we chart out a plan for a CSR organization. 
A detailed plan report is sent to the CSR company, and based on whether they approve or disapprove - our project gets funding. For the next 5 years, we are hoping to raise atleast 5 crores to be able to deliver the project. This shall be the first phase of fund raising. 

We work on a very simple spend how much we get scheme. Last year we got projects worth 90lacs, although the year before that we received projects worth 1crore and this year we have received projects worth 60 lacs. 

Hence, our expenses are charted out based on how much work we get for that year. Hence, as many of our proposals get accepted, that many projects we manage to get investments and money for. 

I am applying for the elevate prize since I need help financially to launch my project. Fundraising is a very time consuming task, water usage is not stopping for me to raise my funds. Any kind of financial help is more than welcome. 
I need help in scaling in social media and documenting the work of the past 5 years. I want to reach out to the young generation so that they can take this forward from my side. They need to create an army of water warriors. 
I need the opportunity to teach at an international scale the knowledge I have gained in the last 30 years. I want to systematically and chronologically put together all the knowledge that I have put together 

I can also teach water related work internationally since I have knowledge that will be crucial in all water scarce spaces in the world. I need help to document my work, to reach out to the younger generation and to create water warriors across the country and even the world.
Given my body of work I can play advisor and help scale and expand other organizations that work towards water. 

Unwater.org 
United Nations Environment Programme