India is not doing enough to stop groundwater depletion (see M. Rodell et al. Nature 460, 999–1002; 2009 and P. P. Mujumdar Nature 521, 151–155; 2015). This could compromise its capacity to resolve food-security issues in the face of climate change.

India's water storage per head of population is only 200 cubic metres, compared with around 2,500 m3 in China and almost 6,000 m3 in the United States. Farmers in India are digging ever deeper for water, unaware of the long-term repercussions.

Government plans for more-efficient water usage include the National Water Mission and National Water Policy. Water regulation, management and monitoring are regionally but not federally controlled, so enforcing such policy initiatives in different states is likely to take several years.

A national water project to irrigate some 35 million hectares of land through river linking and extensive canal networks could prove impractical because of its cost (US$92 billion, or around 5% of India's 2013 gross domestic product) and because of the political complexities associated with rivers that cross other countries.

None of these plans will reduce groundwater depletion in the short term. They need to be supported with public education on water use and with integrated water-resource management. Leading local policy-makers and central administration must cooperate to meet the challenge before it is too late.